Marlena Stell of the Houston area says she was a little over nine weeks pregnant when she found out, via a sonogram, that the fetus she was carrying had died.
This happened last September, shortly after SB 8, the Texas Heartbeat bill became law. She wanted a dilation and curettage (D & C) procedure. Her doctor told her she would need further proof to keep from getting sued.
Marlena was told she would need two different ultrasounds from two different doctors in two different locations to prove the fetus had died. "When I found out I lost a baby I had to call around myself to get an ultrasound and wait because places were booked. I had to wait a few days to get another ultrasound. After getting the second I went back to my doctor and they told me I could not have a D and C. She said she wanted me to miscarry naturally at home."
Stell says she had a miscarriage in 2018 and says her body does not naturally expel and is at risk of getting septic. She wanted this done in a medical environment where she would feel much safer. The doctor offered her an abortion pill, nine days after she learned the fetus died. All the while Stell's pain was getting worse. "She said with the law that passed they were nervous. I can't blame them because they don't want to get sued. They're stuck in a bad position."
She asked again for a D&C and was told no. "At that point I was just desperate so I called an abortion clinic and had it done there. The pain was getting so severe I was having a hard time walking." By the time she was able to get to an abortion clinic, she had been carrying the dead fetus for about two weeks. She had the D&C. "As I was going inside to the abortion clinic, people were yelling at me, telling me I was a baby killer."
She doesn't want to get pregnant here in Texas. "My husband and I talked and we didn't feel comfortable. This sounds awful because Texas is such a beautiful state, but we just don't feel comfortable getting pregnant here because I am at a higher risk of having multiple miscarriages and we're scared for my health. We have a two-year-old daughter that I was luckily able to have and I don't want to put myself at risk and her not having a mom because I'm trying to give her a sibling. It's just not worth it. So we decided not to try."
She wants to change the law. She wanted that baby. She had her previous miscarriage in Washington state and got a D&C two days later from her doctor, in a hospital. "I was in a hospital. I felt safe. When I was done with the D&C the nurses were rubbing my legs, asking me mentally and emotionally if I was OK. It was a totally different experience. I expected that to happen in Texas, but it didn't. It was crushing because I don't understand why I have to fight to get something when the baby is already gone."
She also notes she had to have transvaginal ultrasounds. They are done early in the pregnancy. "It is a very intimate procedure. When you have to go through that and you've already lost the baby and having to go through that because of a loss, a decision made by strangers that don't know you, there's an extra level of violation to have that done time after time. This is still emotionally very violating."
Last week the state filed a lawsuit, challenging President Biden's executive order that gives hospitals the right to pre-empt state abortion restrictions when there’s an emergency. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement "SCOTUS returned the issue to states. Texas law protects preborn life. Biden's HHS is attempting to undo all that. Not on my watch. I just filed suit. I'll ensure the left's abortion agenda can't reach Texas babies."
Paxton's Democratic challenger Rochelle Garza told MSNBC "This is state-sanctioned femicide that he is advocating for. He is advocating for the intentional killing of women. We need to vote him out before he turns Texas into a morgue and takes that nationwide."
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