Members of Congress share abortion stories ahead of expected Supreme Court decision on Roe

Several Democratic lawmakers in Washington shared their personal experiences with abortion, emphasizing the importance of being able to make a decision regarding their own well-being and the risks at stake for millions of Americans who may soon lose their access to abortion. 

Speaking to USA Today, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.) were among those who shared their own experiences with abortion and their reactions to learning the Supreme Court is poised to gut abortion rights. 

In May, a draft opinion by the Supreme Court was leaked and showed the justices were likely to overturn Roe v. Wade — a 1973 ruling that affirmed the constitutional right to seek an abortion — as part of their opinion on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.  

A final decision by the court is expected in the coming weeks. 

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Bush said she weas 17 years old when she found out was pregnant, something she previously shared in congressional testimony. The congresswomen said she was raped, became pregnant and sought out an abortion.  

Speier told USA Today that while married and a mother to one child, she had to terminate her second pregnancy because of a serious health complication. She was 17 weeks pregnant when the abortion was done, saying, “This was a baby that we desperately wanted to come into the world.”  

In another example, Peters shared a harrowing experience his family endured when his ex-wife experienced her water breaking during her fourth month of pregnancy. Initially, a doctor recommended she have an abortion to protect her life from a potentially fatal infection, but a hospital board denied the doctor’s request. 

Peters and his ex-wife knew of another doctor who was able to perform the medically necessary abortion.  

“When I think of that incident and I think about what could happen with Roe v. Wade being overturned and having situations where women cannot have an abortion with no exceptions, for rape, for incest or in the case of my ex-wife, health situation that could have been potentially threatening to her life, that option simply would not be there,” said Peters.  

Newmann told USA Today she became pregnant while still a college student, juggling multiple jobs and an internship on top of a full course load. She shared questions she asked herself at the time, like how she would pay for the delivery, pay the costs of bringing up a child and how she would manage carrying a baby for nine months.  

“How will this child be brought up, given that I am less than an optimal parent at this point in my life,” said Newman.  

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) were also among those lawmakers who shared they had also received an abortion.  

Restricting or banning abortion can have detrimental effects on women’s health care. Some health experts say the U.S. should expect a higher maternal mortality rate, as well as an increasing difficulty in treating miscarriages, worsening mental health and for it be more difficult for women to leave abusive relationships.  

Despite that, many states have already moved to restrict abortion access in anticipation of Roe v. Wade being struck down. According to the research and policy organization Guttmacher Institute, 26 states are likely to ban abortion following the Supreme Court’s official ruling and among them 13 have trigger laws already in place. Those are designed to take effect automatically or by quick state action if Roe no longer applies. 

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