About a week after the repeal of Roe v. Wade and with states poised to change their abortion laws, four abortion advocates from Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota spoke Thursday about their abortions and why they think women and families need the option.
Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said during a call with reporters that much has been said about the theoretical impacts of the Supreme Court's decision, including that the option is likely to be gone soon in 26 states.
All four women who spoke during the call stressed the need for women to be able to make choices for themselves and their families.
Abby Waller, a Nebraska resident, said she was 37 and pregnant with her second child when genetic testing indicated her daughter would have Down syndrome. "My husband and I were completely OK with having a Down syndrome child," she said.
But further testing revealed developmental issues so serious that the baby probably wouldn't survive a 40-week pregnancy.Â
On March 16, 2020, just as COVID-19 was shutting down the nation, she terminated her pregnancy. She told co-workers she had miscarried. "It hurt lying and not being able to tell my story to the world," she said.
Later, she told her full story online. "That's the moment I began to heal," Waller said. "Now I tell my story to anyone who will listen, in hopes they will better understand my situation and maybe change someone's point of view."
During the last session of the Nebraska Legislature, Waller testified against three bills that would have restricted abortion. She said she will continue to fight them. "It's essential health care, and every person's situation is unique," she said.
Nebraska lawmakers are bracing for a possible special session of the Legislature with the likely aim of further restricting abortion, which now is legal until 20 weeks after fertilization.
Iowan Marcella Peltz found herself in a similar situation at 19 weeks pregnant. She took her two children to the doctor for her anatomy scan. "We were hoping for a happy ultrasound to show the kids," she said. "And it turned out like a nightmare."
"When I tell my story to people, everybody says, 'Well, obviously, that was a medical reason,' and I'm given a pass," said Peltz, who also has a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old.
But her abortion was elective. And she had to go through a lot to get it. "I still deal with the mental and emotional repercussions of having to work so hard to end a pregnancy that I wanted," she said.Â
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday that she does not plan a special legislative session, but she now seeks to fight in the courts to reinstate blocked abortion restrictions that Iowa legislators adopted in previous years, the Des Moines Register reported. Those include a 2018 law that banned abortion when the heartbeat of the fetus is detectable.
Caitlin Anderson, a 37-year-old married mother of three in South Dakota, said she knew right away when she became pregnant with her fourth child that abortion would be the best option.Â
"It wasn't an easy decision, but one I made for the three children I already had," she said.Â
After her decision was made, she had to wait through South Dakota's then-72-hour waiting period and the counseling required by that state's laws.
Abortion now is illegal in South Dakota, which had enacted a so-called trigger bill to end the procedure if the court overturned Roe.
Anderson said states that want abortion bans have to be willing to dramatically expand access to supports such as Medicaid, SNAP and WIC.
"Economic reasons remain the primary cause for people seeking an abortion, and they were very much the reason I chose to have an abortion," she said.
Iowan Kelsey Machado, 27, was 16 when she sought an abortion. Today, she has three college degrees, is happily married and has a young child.
But her relationship at 16, she said, was unhealthy. "I am often paralyzed by that thought of what my life would be like, because, frankly, it terrifies me," she said. "I can tell you that I would be living in poverty, and I'm very afraid that I would be experiencing a lot of abuse.
"It was not just about me," she said, "it was about protecting what could be ... knowing that if I were to go through with that pregnancy, I don't know if I could have provided safety."