Texas Woman Says Her Abortion 'Gave Me the Chance to Become a Mom'

"Taylor Edwards was 17 weeks pregnant in February 2023 when she that her fetus had a rare neural tube defect, causing its brain to grow outside an opening in the skull. "This baby will not survive," her doctor . He advised that the best option for her-and her future fertility-would be to have an emergency abortion. But she couldn't get the procedure in her home state of Texas."

"But when they canceled her appointment due to a medication shortage, she had to scramble to find a place that would accept her, since most clinics won't perform an abortion after 18 weeks. She found a place in Colorado but, because of the delay, she needed a more extensive, two-day procedure. She booked her flights and accommodations through her own name and cards, in case her husband was listed as an accomplice for helping her obtain an illegal abortion under the Texas' bounty hunter laws."

""Carrying around a baby who's dying is like, really hard," she . "Getting through that pregnancy was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do." The week before the procedure, she was vomitting and dizzy and her blood pressure spiked. In hindsight, she believes they were early preeclampsia symptoms. After the procedure she said she had "tremendous scarring in my uterus," and ultimately had to get reconstructive uterine surgery before she and her husband could try IVF again."

Taylor Edwards was 17 weeks pregnant in February 2023 when doctors diagnosed a rare neural tube defect causing the brain to grow outside the skull and determined the fetus would not survive. A physician recommended emergency abortion as the best option to preserve fertility, but Texas restrictions prevented the procedure in-state. Appointment cancellations and medication shortages forced out-of-state travel and delays that required a more extensive two-day procedure. She experienced symptoms consistent with early preeclampsia, endured uterine scarring that required reconstructive surgery, and later pursued IVF. In March 2024 she gave birth to a healthy son named Reid Owen Edwards.

Read at Jezebel