Idaho women tearfully recount nonviable pregnancy diagnoses under total abortion ban

Several women took the stand in an Idaho courtroom Tuesday to testify about their non-viable pregnancies. a lawsuit filed by women who could not have an abortion due to the state’s total ban.

Rebecca Vincen-Brown tearfully described how she delivered her pregnancy in a hotel room bathroom after driving seven hours to get abortion care in Portland, Oregon. She became pregnant after the first day of her two-day abortion procedure, with her other child in the next room, she testified on the stand.

Vincen-Brown, who was pregnant with her second child, discovered during a 16-week anatomy scan that her fetus had several fatal fetal conditions and that she was unlikely to survive. Doctors also told her there were risks to her life and health – including preeclampsia, bleeding, a high risk of miscarriage and risks to her fertility – if she continued with the pregnancy.

Vincen-Brown went into labor in her hotel room and hours later delivered her pregnancy but did not go to the emergency room, she testified.

“We didn’t have insurance to cover it because we were out of state. We didn’t have a car because our car was locked on the street in a valet at a hotel, and so it wasn’t necessarily an option for us,” said Vincen- Brown, while testifying as to why she didn’t go to the emergency room.

“In the morning, a few people from the clinic came to our hotel room, they got the baby from the bathroom, and then they helped me clean up, and then walked to the clinic and finished the procedure,” says Vincent. Brown testified.

Earlier in the trial, attorneys for the state made the argument that Idaho case law does not protect fertility rights.

Have an abortion alone

Jillaine St. Michel, also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, described calling more than two dozen out-of-state clinics to obtain abortion care after receiving a fatal fetal diagnosis.

“They were the worst four days of my life. There’s no other way to describe it. Knowing I was carrying a pregnancy that was doomed, she had no chance of survival. Every day was worse than the last. And so would I.” Let’s just say my mental health just kept getting worse and worse over those four days,” St.Michel said.

During her 20-week ultrasound, St. Michel was told that her fetus had several serious developmental and chromosomal disorders affecting multiple organ systems, and that she was unlikely to survive. She traveled to Seattle, where she underwent a two-day abortion procedure.

“Because we had to travel with my toddler, my husband had to stay at the hotel with her and take care of her, so I had to attend both the Friday and Saturday appointments alone,” St.Michel said.

St. Michel, a 38-year-old chiropractor, and her family have since moved to Blaine, Minnesota. At the time the charges were filed, the family lived in Meridian, Idaho.

“Knowing what I went through, knowing what the state representatives decided is acceptable reproductive care for women. I can’t imagine my daughter and son receiving messages like this,” St.Michel said.

“I want them to believe that women can make decisions about their health care. I want my daughter to feel safe getting pregnant one day, if she chooses, and I just don’t feel like that would be the case if we would do that.” raised our children here,” St.Michel said.

Leaving the state

During a routine ultrasound scan around the 19th week of pregnancy, Kayla Smith discovered that her fetus had several abnormalities, including several heart defects. Specialists told Smith and her husband that at best their son would need a heart transplant before age 4 or 5, but that this would only be a temporary solution for about 10 years.

Due to some heart defects, his pulmonary veins were not flowing properly and that could have had a direct impact on his lungs, Smith testified.

“If I were to continue the pregnancy, not only would I be risking my life by developing preeclampsia, but I was also unwilling to watch him suffer and essentially gasp for breath,” Smith said.

Smith and her husband drove more than eight hours to the University of Washington Hospital for an induction. They were given an estimate of $16,000 to $20,000 for the cost of the procedure.

They took out a personal loan to cover the costs of the procedure, Smith testified.

Smith, her husband and two children moved their family to Washington. They plan to stay there if Idaho’s abortion ban remains in effect.

Multiple fatal fetal conditions

St. Michel took the stand after Jennifer Adkins, another Idaho woman who had to leave the state to terminate a pregnancy that was unlikely to survive after she was diagnosed with multiple conditions.

Adkins was one of 18 women interviewed by ABC News about the impact of abortion bans.

During a 12-week ultrasound, Adkins’ doctors told her that the scan showed that the fetus had excessive fluid and skin edema – signs of cystic hygroma – and that her fetus likely had Turner syndrome – a rare condition resulting from one of the X chromosomes is missing.

Adkins was told that her fetus would likely not survive and that there was a good chance she would develop Mirror Syndrome, a condition in which the pregnant woman experiences fluid retention and can develop preeclampsia, which can lead to a stroke or death .

Four women and doctors suing the state will testify in court Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the ongoing trial. The lawsuit seeks to “clarify and expand the medical exceptions to Idaho’s two abortion bans to ensure that physicians can provide abortion care to maintain the health and safety of a pregnant person, including in cases of fatal fetal diagnoses” , according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. who filed the case on behalf of the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit was filed on September 11, 2023, challenging Idaho’s total abortion ban and its six-week ban. Idaho’s total abortion ban only allows the procedure to prevent death.

Idaho is one of 13 states that have halted nearly all abortion services since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.