Texas’s six-week abortion ban, which went into effect last year, has saved lives, but the Washington Post chose to showcase one such instance in a gloomy light, featuring the story of a Lone Star State teen who found out she was pregnant two days before the law went into effect.
“Brooke Alexander turned off her breast pump at 6:04 p.m. and brought two fresh bottles of milk over to the bed, where her 3-month-old twins lay flat on their backs, red-faced and crying,” the Post began, giving a peek into the life of the 18-year-old who gave birth to twins Kendall and Olivia.
The Post explained that the teen discovered she was pregnant August 29, two days before the Texas heartbeat bill, which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, became law. After discovering her pregnancy, she went to her best friend’s house where they discussed options, telling him that abortion could be on the table. However, her friend reminded her of the new law taking effect. A nearby abortion clinic reportedly had no openings before the law went into effect, and her remaining options were 13 hours away in New Mexico.
According to the Post, the abortion law has served as a “major inconvenience” for women, as they have to search for abortion clinics out of state to sidestep abortion restrictions in their home state. Not to mention, the outlet added, the rising price of gas.
However, she found a place, Pregnancy Center of the Coastal Bend, that performed an ultrasound to see how far along her pregnancy was. According to the Post, “she had no idea she’d walked into a facility designed to dissuade people from getting abortions.”
As it turned out, she was 12 weeks along with twins:
Brooke felt like she was floating above herself, watching the scene below. Her mom was calling the twins “my babies,” promising Brooke she would take care of everything, as the ultrasound technician told her how much she loved being a twin.
If she really tried, Brooke thought she could make it to New Mexico. Her older brother would probably lend her the money to get there. But she couldn’t stop staring at the pulsing yellow line on the ultrasound screen.
She wondered: If her babies had heartbeats, as these women said they did, was aborting them murder? Eventually, Arnholt [Angie Arnholt, a counselor at the pregnancy center] turned to Brooke and asked whether she’d be keeping them. Brooke heard herself saying “yes.”
“Who’s to say what I would have done if the law wasn’t in effect?” Brooke Alexander said. “I don’t want to think about it.”
“I can’t just really be free,” she added. “I guess that really sums it up. That’s a big thing that I really miss.”
She also ended up marrying her boyfriend, which might not have happened if she was able to easily abort her twins, completely altering her current reality.
The Post concluded that the story offers a “glimpse” into what women across the nation would face if, indeed, the Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade, framing the entire story with an air of uncertainty and gloom of what could have been, if not for the abortion law taking effect.
That could have, very possibly, changed Brooke’s mind and the outcome of having her babies.
Indeed, the Post’s story comes as the nation awaits the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade following a leaked draft opinion penned by Justice Samuel Alito overturning the landmark ruling, which would thereby put the decision in the hands of the states, each of which could make its own abortion laws.
Most Americans believe abortion should be “mostly” or “always” illegal, a Fox News poll released last month found. And according to an October study by the University of Texas at Austin, Lone Star State abortions declined by 50 percent in September compared to the prior year, after the law took effect, saving countless lives.
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