PERSONAL: 'I had to cross state lines' - Wisconsin woman speaks about her abortion

Record ID: 1843253

  • Title: PERSONAL: 'I had to cross state lines' - Wisconsin woman speaks about her abortion
  • Date: 19th September 2024
  • Summary: LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 13, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEGAN’S DOCTOR, DR. KAITLYN CUNNINGHAM, SAYING: “I shared with Megan in that visit that because of the way that things looked, that I did not think that her baby had kidneys or bladder. I don't really like to beat around the bush. These are really big things that people are having to make decisions about. I like to be honest about where I think things are going.”
  • Embargoed: 3rd October 2024 19:49
  • Keywords: abortion conservative democrats election swing state wisconsin
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: US
  • Topics: North America,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA008515418092024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Megan Kling lives in rural Wisconsin, with her husband Sam and their two towheaded young daughters.
    Last year, Megan was getting ready to be a mother to a third child.
    She was 23 weeks pregnant when she found out that the fetus had no kidneys or a bladder.
    "The medical term for this is called bilateral renal agenesis, which is essentially a fancy way of saying that something happened where the kidneys did not form when they were supposed to," said Megan's doctor, Dr. Kaitlyn Cunningham, in an interview with Reuters.
    “Unfortunately, this diagnosis does carry a 100% mortality rate for babies who are born. And, in fact, about 50% of babies will actually be stillborn with this condition,” said Dr. Cunningham.
    Megan and her husband were clear-eyed about what this meant was happening inside her body. "Their bones bend as they grow because there’s no room for them to stretch and move. And there’s no amniotic fluid to protect them," Megan said.
    “I wanted to be induced and deliver, deliver my baby. I wanted to be able to meet him. And I, I just felt strongly that we made this baby and I wanted to be the one to bring him into the world....and we could not do that in Wisconsin because it was illegal. So we had to cross state lines," said Megan.
    She and her husband decided to make the trip to the neighboring state of Minnesota.
    There, Megan was able to be induced, and delivered naturally the baby she had been carrying.
    "He came out with his heart still beating, and they cleaned him up and put a little diaper on him and handed him to me. And I was able to hold him skin to skin. And he survived for roughly an hour before his heart ultimately stopped beating,” she said.
    Megan's doctor thinks laws that restrict abortion as a medical option are interfering with health care.
    "I think people are seem to be waking up to that. There has been a huge outcry of women, even conservative women, who have traditionally voted more of the pro-life way, are understanding, 'oh, like this actually could affect me in a way I never anticipated.' But it's because our view as a society of abortion is just so narrow,” said Dr. Cunningham.
    Megan's experience changed her, and her political leanings.
    “As someone who has almost always voted conservative, I'm having a really hard time wanting to vote for anyone in the Republican Party moving forward," she said.
    "Until, you know, I can see some understanding and compassion or willingness to recognize how some of these abortion bans hurt women and families, I'm having a hard time wanting to support them. I believe women are the backbone of this country," she said.
    (Production: Brad Horn, Joan Soley)
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