Julie Storbeck, President of Northwest Indiana National Organization for Women and Indiana NOW, had an abortion in her early 20s to complete a miscarriage.
Laura Welch, President of Illinois NOW, had an abortion after learning her fetus’ intestines and heart were developing outside the body and the brain was exposed.
Both women had their abortions after Roe v. Wade became law in 1973. But, both women said they are very concerned that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the law, which was decided 49 years ago.
On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the constitution protects a pregnant woman’s choice to have an abortion.
This year, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case from Mississippi whether bans on abortion before fetal viability can be constitutional. When the case was argued in December, most of the justices in the court’s conservative majority questioned the constitutional foundation of the law.
Pro-abortion rights advocates say the “constitutional right to abortion has never been at greater risk and the days of legal abortion in every state may be numbered,” according to a statement from Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Indiana.
The Indiana legislature’s Republican supermajority has proposed legislation, such as House Bill 1217, that would “stigmatize abortion care and limit patients’ ability to get the care they need,” according to the statement.
“This is the anniversary of the most basic abortion rights protections provided nationwide under the Roe v. Wade decision 49 years ago,” said Jennifer M. Allen, CEO for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, in the statement. “This day is a stark reminder of how laser focused the Indiana Republican legislative majority has been to take away abortion access and rights, despite the fact that a majority of people in Indiana want access to abortion to remain safe and legal.”
Storbeck’s abortion story
In her early 20s, Storbeck said she and her husband were planning out how to balance their respective dreams to receive their master’s degrees and financing those dreams.
Storbeck, now in her 50s, recalled their discussions about where and how he could work while she studied to receive her master’s degree and then where and how she could work while he received his master’s degree.
“We were trying to figure all the finances out when lo and behold, oops, Julie’s pregnant,” Storbeck said.
Storbeck said it wasn’t uncommon for her to skip a period, especially when she was stressed, so she didn’t learn she was pregnant until the end of her first trimester.
Suzanne Tennant/Post Tribune
One day, Storbeck recalled she started to get really bad cramps that caused her hips and back to hurt. Then, she could barely walk and bled through her clothes.
She went to Planned Parenthood, because she didn’t have insurance, and the nurse practitioner told her she was having a miscarriage.
But, because that clinic was accepting federal funds, Storbeck said they told her they couldn’t complete the miscarriage because the procedure was considered an abortion. The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, banned the use of federal funding to pay for abortions.
She was referred to a different clinic to complete the miscarriage and ensure that all the fetal tissue came out safely, Storbeck said.
“I had to get in my car, bleeding, cramping, sick as a dog,” Storbeck said. “I had to drive over an hour to get to the next health care clinic that I could get to that could complete the miscarriage.”
She made it to the clinic, and the nurses and doctors were very kind and were able to perform the abortion, Storbeck said.
Storbeck said if Roe v. Wade is overturned and Indiana passes a law that bans abortions, the procedure she had would be illegal.
“Any pregnant person who finds themselves in the same situation I was in at that time would be faced with receiving an illegal abortion,” Storbeck said.
Welch’s abortion story
Welch, then 30, said she went in for an ultrasound when she was about 21 weeks pregnant. She was excited for the appointment, and her husband, mother and 4-year-old son were in the room with her.
– Original Credit: Laura Welch
It was her first ultrasound, Welch said, because the procedure wasn’t common when she was pregnant with her son. The technician was taking a long time and told the family she was “having a little trouble” and called for a doctor.
The doctor performed the ultrasound and started referencing complications with the pregnancy, Welch said. She remembers stopping the doctor and asking her mother to take her son out of the room.
Welch, now 58, said her memory from that moment becomes “a blur” because it was traumatic. But, she recalls listening to doctors explain the medical conditions the fetus had before deciding to get an abortion.
Her abortion consisted of a prepping procedure and then having a surgery to remove the fetal tissue the following day, Welch said.
It took her years, Welch said, to process what happened to the pregnancy. They had found out the baby would’ve been a girl, but doctors explained that if the pregnancy was carried to term her daughter would’ve very likely not survived, she said.
Following the abortion, Welch said she felt a lot of guilt. But, she soon realized she made the right decision.
“It was the right thing to do for our family. It was the necessary thing to do,” Welch said.
Life without Roe v. Wade
Both Storbeck and Welch said, without hesitation, if Roe v. Wade is overturned women will die.
Upper and middle class white women will still be able to get abortions, Storbeck said, because they will have the money and time off needed to travel to a state that offers legal abortions.
But, overturning the law will force a majority of women — particularly minority and poor women — to undergo unsafe methods to end a pregnancy, Storbeck said.
“People are going to be desperate, and they are going to go back to illegal abortions, back alley abortions, and a lot of them are going to die,” Storbeck said. “It’s not going to make abortions disappear. It’s just going to make abortion illegal and unsafe in states like Indiana.”
Welch said “it is going to be very frightening” if Roe v. Wade is overturned. People will have to travel to a state that legalizes abortions, but that will be difficult for single moms and teenagers, she said.
Both women said they don’t feel confident that the Supreme Court will uphold Roe v. Wade.
“I don’t see a chance in hell,” Welch said. “What’s really scary … their next thing is to start taking away birth control, and then they’ll takeaway the food stamps to help the babies and their moms. It’s all about control. It’s not about the babies, because if it was about the babies then they would take care of the babies afterward but they don’t.”
While Storbeck’s abortion was protected under Roe v. Wade, she said she can’t imagine what she would’ve done if abortions were illegal.
But, Storbeck said because she didn’t have insurance at the time, she knows for sure she wouldn’t have taken herself to the emergency room. Storbeck said she likely would’ve bled until she passed out and then someone would’ve had to rush her to the emergency room.
“Who knows if I would’ve made it,” Storbeck said.
Welch said she had a child a few years after her abortion. But, if she wouldn’t have been able to have an abortion, Welch said she isn’t sure if she’d be emotionally and mentally able to have another child.
Welch said she’s “been married to an amazing man for 35 years,” but it’s unclear how the death of a child would’ve impacted their marriage. Her son could’ve been impacted mentally watching the stress of loosing a child caused his parents, Welch said.
“From a psychological standpoint as a woman, I can’t imagine not having been able to make that decision based on my own story,” Welch said. “It’s my life.”