By Jacqueline Howard and Tierney Sneed | CNN
A woman who is suing the state of Texas after being denied an abortion told lawmakers Wednesday that not receiving abortion care harmed her mental health and might prevent her from having children in the future.
Addressing her senators, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, Amanda Zurawski said her “horrific” experience was a result of policies they support. “I nearly died on their watch,” she said.
“We’ve heard a lot today about the mental trauma and the negative harmful effects on a person’s psychological well-being after they have an abortion, supposedly, and I’m curious why that’s not relevant for me as well,” Zurawski said in the hearing of the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary on the impact of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
“Because I wasn’t permitted to have an abortion and the trauma and the PTSD and the depression that I have dealt with in the eight months since this happened to me is paralyzing,” she said. “On top of that, I am still struggling to have children.”
Zurawski previously told CNN she was denied abortion care after she had pregnancy complications. Eighteen weeks into her pregnancy, Zurawski’s water broke, which put her at high risk for a life-threatening infection. Zurawski’s baby, named Willow, was sure to die. Willow still had a heartbeat, and so doctors said that under Texas law, they were unable to terminate the pregnancy.
Zurawski told lawmakers Wednesday that she received an emergency abortion only after her condition worsened and she went into septic shock — adding that she may have been one of the first patients affected in the state of Texas after Roe was overturned, removing the federal right to an abortion.
“I wanted to address my senators Cruz and Cornyn, neither of whom regrettably are in the room right now, but I would like for them to know that what happened to me I think most people in this room would agree was horrific. But it’s a…
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