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“None of this had to happen”: the chilling story of a Texan who was on the verge of death due to anti-abortion laws

Amanda Zurawski was happy to be pregnant. Unfortunately, the 35-year-old Texan’s pregnancy quickly took a desperate turn. But due to abortion restrictions in Texas since last summer, she was unable to get the abortion on time. So much so that she almost lost her life. She told her story to CNN on Wednesday.

The drama experienced by Amanda Zurawski last summer illustrates the practical consequences of the reversal of the Roe v. Wade on June 24 by the Supreme Court of the United States. This provision guaranteed since 1973 the right to abortion throughout the country. The removal of this federal law paved the way for strict bans or restrictions on abortion at the state level. Obstacles that prevented the Texan from aborting on time despite the threat that her pregnancy, desired but destined to a fatal outcome, quickly posed to her health.

Willow

However, the story, as the couple told CNN on Wednesday, begins with the best of auspices. Amanda and Josh, both 35 years old today, have known each other since 1991… that is, since they met at the daycare center in Indiana where they are from. They have been a couple since high school and now work in high technology, in Austin, the capital of this Texas where they moved. Three years ago, Amanda Eid became Amanda Zurawski, taking the name of her husband.

The newlyweds want a child, but their attempts to become parents have long been in vain. Finally, and after fertility treatment for a year and a half, Amanda Zurawski becomes pregnant.

“We were swimming in happiness,” sums up the person concerned.

In July, she posted a snapshot on Instagram where we see her posing with her husband and the first images of her fetus, specifying in the caption: “Very happy to announce that baby Zurawski will be born at the end of January.” .

Amanda is expecting a girl that she and Josh promise to name Willow. A promise that, unfortunately, Amanda’s body will not allow her to keep. Because her water breaks after only four months of pregnancy.

Wait till you’re in mortal danger

“Breaking water”, a common expression that specifically designates the flow of amniotic fluid that bathes the embryo and then the fetus and without which the baby cannot hope to see the light of day. Amanda Zurawski’s doctor can only draw a sad conclusion.

“We found out we were going to lose the child. My cervix dilated 22 weeks in advance, I could only have an abortion”, the young woman still remembers.

You can beg your doctor to do everything possible to save the baby, but disappointment is inevitable. The idea of ​​abortion is therefore fundamental: on the one hand, the interruption of the pregnancy would prevent her from suffering a spontaneous abortion and, on the other hand, it would help her to preserve her health. In fact, the loss of water exposes the parturient to a high risk of potentially fatal infection. However, Willow’s heart is already beating, or else, putting the pregnant woman at odds with Texas law. The medical staff then told her to “wait,” to go home, and reduced her to watching for signs of a possible deterioration in her condition until, according to her account, she was “sick enough to consider her in danger.” of death”. and obtain the right to abortion.

No exit

Because even reviewing as a result of the repeal of the Roe vs. The Wade, Texas law opens a window for abortion. Thus, Article 170 of the Texas Health Code establishes that the operation is possible in case the woman sees “a vital threat (concerning her, editor’s note) that worsens, being caused or derived from a pregnancy that puts in endangers your life or poses a serious risk. of substantial damage to an important physical function”.

Wording that is nebulous to say the least, while the stakes for offending doctors are much more specific: They risk losing their right to practice and even a life sentence. Between this dithering over the situations that authorize abortion and these much more palpable dangers, Texan doctors may be encouraged to exercise some caution.

There remains then the opportunity to expatriate to lands more favorable to abortion during the time of the intervention. But there are not so many anymore. The original Indiana of the Zurawskis? Don’t think about it: it was one of the first states to tighten the nut on the issue. Louisiana or Oklahoma, neighbors of Texas, then? Not anymore: they are even stricter. There is New Mexico, also bordering, and where abortion is still free. Except that it takes an 8-hour drive to get there, the couple reckons at the time, and an infection on the way could kill Amanda.

almost last hour

Therefore, he decides to wait. That said, the wait won’t be long. On August 26, three days after the discharge of amniotic fluid, she suffered a violent attack of fever, shivering in the Texas heat. Josh Zurawski immediately takes his wife to the ER. While it’s 40°C outside, Amanda Zurawski’s temperature is over 39°C. However, she would almost be lucky in her misfortune: she is now weak enough to consider abortion.

But a new problem arises. His disease is resistant to antibiotics and even a blood transfusion. We operated on her anyway, then rushed her twelve hours later to intensive care. It borders on sepsis, which the Institut Pasteur defines as “life-threatening organ dysfunction resulting from a dysregulated host response to infection, the most severe form of which is septic shock.”

The patient’s blood pressure plummets, as does her platelet count. Her relatives arrive at the hospital: they fear that she will live her last moments. Fortunately, an intravenous injection of antibiotics directly into the region of the heart saved her.

The fear of permanent sterility

If Amanda’s health recovered, her uterus was damaged by the episode and now she fears permanent sterility. “She doesn’t strike me as very pro-life,” she slipped to CNN on Wednesday, referring to the line posted by Texas lawmakers who have toughened abortion access conditions. When her husband criticizes “barbaric laws,” Amanda laments:

“None of this was supposed to happen. That’s the most infuriating thing, is that we didn’t, shouldn’t, go through this trauma.”

Still, Amanda acknowledges that she benefited from an asset that many women waiting for an abortion cannot claim: income that guarantees good health insurance.

Author: verner robin
Source: BFM TV

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