Several women took the stand in an Idaho courtroom Tuesday to testify about their nonviable pregnancies as part of a lawsuit filed by women who were unable to have abortions due to the state’s total ban.

Rebecca Vincen-Brown tearfully described giving birth in a hotel room bathroom after driving seven hours to receive abortion care in Portland, Oregon. She miscarried after the first day of the two-day abortion procedure, with the other child in the next room, she testified on the stand.

Vincen-Brown, who was pregnant with her second child, discovered at a 16-week anatomy scan that her fetus had several fatal fetal conditions and was unlikely to survive. Doctors also told her there were risks to her life and health – including pre-eclampsia, haemorrhage, high risk of miscarriage and risks to her fertility – if she continued with the pregnancy.

Vincen-Brown went into labor in her hotel room and hours later went into labor, but did not go to an emergency room, she testified.

“We didn’t have insurance to cover it because we were out of state. We didn’t have a car because our car was locked on the street in a hotel valet so it wasn’t necessarily an option for us. ,” Vincen-Brown said, testifying as to why she didn’t go to the emergency room.

“In the morning, some people from the clinic came to our hotel room, took the baby from the bathroom, then me, helped me clean up, then went to the clinic and finished the procedure,” Vincen-Brown testified.

Earlier in the lawsuit, attorneys for the state argued that Idaho’s case law lacked protections for fertility rights.

Have an abortion yourself

Jillaine St.Michel, also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, described calling more than 20 out-of-state clinics for abortion care after receiving a fatal fetal diagnosis.

“It was the worst four days of my life. I can’t describe them otherwise. Knowing that I had a pregnancy that was doomed, it had no chance of survival. Each day was worse than the last. And I would have Let’s say, in those four days, my mental health got worse and worse,” said St.Michel.

At her 20-week ultrasound, St.Michel was told her fetus had several serious developmental and chromosomal conditions affecting multiple organ systems and was unlikely to survive. She traveled to Seattle, where she received a two-day abortion procedure.

“Because we had to travel with my baby, my husband had to stay with her at the hotel and take care of her, so I had to go alone to the meeting on Friday and Saturday,” said St.Michel.

St.Michel, a 38-year-old chiropractor, and her family have since moved to Blaine, Minnesota. At the time the lawsuit was filed, the family lived in Meridian, Idaho.

“Knowing what I went through, knowing what state representatives have decided is acceptable reproductive care for women. I can’t imagine my daughter and my son receiving messages like that,” St. Michel said.

“I want them to have the belief that women can make decisions about their health care. I want my daughter to feel safe when she gets pregnant, if she chooses to do so, and I just don’t feel like that would be the case if we were raising our kids here,” St.Michel said.

Leaving the state

At a routine ultrasound appointment around 19 weeks pregnant, Kayla Smith discovered her fetus had several abnormalities, including several heart defects. Specialists informed Smith and her husband that their son would, at best, need a heart transplant before the age of 4 or 5, but that would only be a temporary fix for about 10 years .

Because of some of the heart defects, his pulmonary veins were not flowing properly, and that could directly affect his lungs, Smith testified.

“If I were to continue the pregnancy, not only would I have risked my life from developing preeclampsia, but I would not have been willing to watch him suffer and essentially gasp for air,” Smith said.

Smith and her husband drove more than eight hours to Washington University Hospital to get an induction. They were given an estimate of $16,000 to $20,000 for the cost of the procedure.

They took out a personal loan to cover the cost of the procedure, Smith testified.

Smith, her husband, and their two children moved their family to Washington. They plan to stay there if Idaho’s abortion bans remain in place.

Multiple fatal fetal conditions

St. Michel took the stand after Jennifer Adkins, another Idaho woman who had to travel out of state to terminate a pregnancy that was unlikely to survive after being diagnosed with multiple conditions.

Adkins was one of the 18 women interviewed by ABC News about the impact of abortion bans.

At a 12-week ultrasound, Adkins’ doctors told her the scan showed the fetus had excess fluid and skin edema — signs of cystic hygroma — and that her fetus likely had Turner syndrome — a rare condition that results in from one of the X Chromosomes are missing.

Adkins was told that her fetus probably would not survive and that there was a high probability that she would develop mirror syndrome, a condition in which the pregnant person develops fluid retention and can develop preeclampsia, which can lead to stroke or death.

Four women and doctors suing the state are testifying in court Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the ongoing trial. The lawsuit seeks to “clarify and expand the medical exceptions to Idaho’s two abortion bans to ensure that physicians can provide abortion care to maintain the health and safety of a pregnant person, including in cases of fatal fetal diagnoses,” according to Center for Reproductive Rights. who brought the action on behalf of the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit was filed on September 11, 2023, challenging Idaho’s total abortion ban and its six-week ban. Idaho’s total abortion ban only allows the procedure to prevent death.

Idaho is one of 13 states to have nearly all abortion services terminated by the US Supreme Court. overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.