AUSTIN, Texas — September marks three years since Texas' abortion law – Senate Bill 8, also known as the Texas Heartbeat Act – went into effect, changing the course of so many women's lives across the state, including Austin woman Amanda Zurawski.
The Texas Heartbeat Act outlawed all abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is usually around six weeks. The restrictions from the law ban virtually all abortions, effectively ending abortion access in Texas.
Zurawski wanted to be a mother, carrying a girl she was going to name Willow, but she experienced severe complications. Under Texas' near-total abortion ban, she had to wait to get an abortion, which doctors said she needed. She then went into septic shock twice.
"What I went through was horrific and heartbreaking, and I think about it every day," Zurawski said. "And I am a completely different person because of it. Today, because of Donald Trump, more than one in three women of reproductive age in America lives under an abortion ban."
Zurawski recently turned her loss and grief into action, appearing in front a national audience at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
"I immediately decided with my husband that this is something we need to fight back on. We need to fix this because if I am the best case scenario and I almost died, we know it's going to be a lot worse for a lot of other people," Zurawski said.
Dr. Samuel Dickman is the Chief Medical Officer at Planned Parenthood of Montana. She worked as an abortion provider in Texas and moved out of state in part due to Senate Bill 8.
"I recently saw a young woman from who traveled all the way from Texas up to Montana for an abortion, and that's because that was the only way that she was going to be able to find an extended family member who could host or help her with the logistics of getting an abortion," Dickman said. "She and her family had to spend hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars for this whole, you know, this whole travel experience that really should have just been able to be offered in her local community."
Near the anniversary of the Texas Heartbeat Act, KVUE reached out to Texas Alliance for Life, which provided this statement:
"Texas Alliance for Life celebrates every life saved by the Texas Heartbeat Act, which took effect before the overturning of Roe in Dobbs v Jackson. The law began protecting unborn babies at the point a heartbeat was detected while providing exceptions for medically necessary abortions to save pregnant women’s lives. The Heartbeat Act was a monumental step forward in protecting life in Texas.
Shortly after, the Human Life Protection Act took effect, completely protecting unborn babies from abortion beginning at conception, except to save the life of the mother.
The latest data from HHSC ITOP reports show that doctors in Texas performed 113 abortions to save pregnant women’s lives or health in the first 22 months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, while reported elective abortions have dropped to zero." - Amy O’Donnell, Texas Alliance for Life Communications Director
Zurawski vows to fight for reproductive freedoms in this country.
"As long as there's the fight, I'll suit up for it," Zurawski said.
Zurawski also said she is open to a political future, whether it is running for office or working in someone else's administration.