I was told my unborn daughter wouldn’t survive outside the womb, but my state had banned abortion

A Tennessee mother who was forced to fly to New York to have an abortion after an ultrasound found her unborn daughter had a rare brain defect that meant she would not survive outside the womb has slammed lawmakers for ‘causing mass panic among Americans’. 

A year ago, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion – and in the process, it has left thousands of woman in potentially life-threatening situations. 

The landmark decision has seen 14 states almost completely ban the procedure, and gestational limits are in place in a handful of others.   

Allie Phillips, 28, was 19 weeks pregnant with her daughter Miley Rose when she learned that she had a rare congenital defect known as holoprosencephaly (HPE) – which has a three percent survival rate for fetuses.

‘I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, I felt all the blood leave my face and I was just stuck in that moment in time,’ she told DailyMail.com.

‘Being told your pregnancy isn’t viable and that your daughter won’t live outside of the womb, it was like nothing else in the world mattered at that moment. My world went up in flames.

‘Because of these laws I wasn’t able to grieve properly. They’re not saving lives by making these laws, they’re causing mass panic among Americans.’

The court’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, issued on June 24, 2022, halted a 50-year precedent of federal abortion protections and marked the start of a new era in abortion politics.

Democrats became more energized in efforts to strengthen abortion protections where they already existed and have been fighting to stop them eroding elsewhere.

Republicans have continued to pass and push pro-life legislation around the country that would limit the timeframe when women can get the procedure.

And Phillips has used her own experience to spearhead Miley’s Law which she said would ‘give the choice back to parents when diagnosed with a fetal anomaly’. 

‘I’d like to see Roe codified and I’d like to see no laws being made on medical decisions,’ she said.

‘I’m fighting for change by sharing others’ stories online while also working within my own community, meeting with representatives and trying to implement Miley’s Law.’

Phillips said her story is one of thousands – as stories of women carrying their dead fetuses until they become severely unwell or having to travel hundreds of miles at exorbitant prices for the procedure has become a dystopic reality for many.

Ultimately, Phillips found out after travelling 1,000 miles to New York City for her abortion – which was covered by funds raised on GoFundMe – that her baby did not have a heartbeat, and she was immediately induced because she faced severe health risks. 

Even if doctors in Tennessee had discovered there was no heartbeat they would not have induced her unless she became severely ill, and she would have had to miscarry naturally. 

‘The last confirmed heartbeat I had of Miley was February 25 and March 7 was the day I arrived to my first appointment at the abortion clinic, the abortion was scheduled for the next day,’ she told DailyMail.com.

‘I was at risk of blood clots and infections, so they had to push the appointment forward and did it within the hour I arrived. 

‘Finding out Miley had already passed was extremely hard, I knew she was going to pass the next day – but I’d mentally prepared for the abortion.’

Phillips said the distance from loved ones and being surrounded by strangers during the harrowing ordeal left her devastated. 

‘Only patients were allowed inside, so I had to call my husband and tell him over the phone his daughter died,’ she said. 

‘I was alone, far away from my family, friends and doctors [I knew] in a city I’ve never been in, surrounded by strangers.

‘The moment she told me there was no heartbeat I started to cry uncontrollably, no mother wants to hear those words.’

Phillips who is now just a month from Miley Rose’s due date said she was furious when Roe v. Wade was overturned, adding that she worries for her six-year-old stepdaughter.

‘I felt like we were in a dictatorship instead of a democracy, how could one of the most advanced countries in the world take bodily autonomy away from women?’ she questioned.

‘It broke me apart because I have a young daughter living in this country and our politicians just told her a clump of cells is more important than her life.’

In Tennessee abortion is banned with no exceptions for rape or incest, this is the same for Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and West Virginia.

Nearly all abortions are banned in Idaho and private citizens can sue abortion providers.

In January, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled there is no constitutional right to abortion. However, a federal judge ruled in August that doctors cannot be punished for performing an abortion to protect a patient’s health.

Abortion is banned with no exceptions for rape or incest victims in Kentucky as well. 

In November, however, voters rejected a ballot measure that would amend the State Constitution to say it contains no right to an abortion.

If a woman falls pregnant as a result of rape or incest in North Dakota, they can seek an abortion in the first six weeks.

Wisconsin had a law before Roe v. Wade was overturned that bans abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. 

The Democratic governor and attorney general filed a lawsuit in 2022 in an attempt to block the ban – a decision is yet to be made.

Texas has seen some of the most contentious legal woes since the abortion ban with dozens of women suing the state after being denied abortions.

The procedure is banned in the state, with no exception for rape or incest and private citizens can sue abortion providers and those who assist patients seeking an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. 

More than a dozen Texas women joined a Center for Reproductive Rights’ lawsuit against the state’s law, which prohibits abortions unless a mother’s life is at risk – an exception that is not clearly defined. 

Texas doctors who perform abortions risk life in prison and fines of up to $100,000 – leaving many women with providers who are unwilling to even discuss terminating a pregnancy. 

Now, they’re asking a Texas court to put an emergency hold on some abortion restrictions.

The original suit filed earlier this year, claimed that five women risked hemorrhage or life-threatening infection and some doctors refused to suggest options or forward medical records to other providers.

Amanda Zurawski was told she was not ‘sick enough’ to receive an abortion, became septic twice, and was left with one fallopian tube that has permanently closed when denied medical intervention.

Lauren Miller, 35, another plaintiff, had to sneak out of the state to Colorado for an abortion – similar to Phillips.

And Lauren Hall was 18 weeks pregnant when it was revealed her fetus had no skull and an undeveloped brain. She was also urged to leave the state to seek an abortion.

Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, is a defendant in the lawsuit along with the state medical board and its director.

‘We’re not going to allow left-wing bureaucrats in Washington to transform our hospitals and emergency rooms into walk-in abortion clinics,’ Paxton said at the time.

Some anti-abortion groups have argued that restrictions on terminations should not harm women’s health and the laws prevent only what these groups call ‘elective’ abortions which are intended to end unwanted pregnancy.

Phillips said her story has been eye opening for pro-life advocates and said that many saw abortion as a ‘form of birth control.’

‘I have spoken to a lot of people who are now pro-choice because they saw my story,’ she said. 

‘They explained that they didn’t realize abortions were needed for reasons like mine, they thought abortions were just a form of birth control. Knowledge is power.’

The lawsuit does not intend to overturn the abortion laws but instead confirm that Texas law allows physicians to offer abortions when necessary and ‘where the pregnancy is unlikely to result in the birth of a living child with sustained life.’

Gestational limits spanning from six to 22 weeks have been enforced in Georgia, Nebraska, Arizona, Florida, Utah, North Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and South Carolina. 

Meanwhile, abortion ban blocks have been put forward for Montana, Ohio, South Carolina and Wyoming.

A survey from KFF which collected the answers of 569 OBGYNs nationally showed 64 percent believe patient mortality has worsened.

The new statistics also showed that 70 percent said its racial and ethnic inequities had worsened while 56 percent believe its harder to attract new doctors to the field.

It come as more than 500 Indiana doctors defended obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Caitlin Bernard – after she was punished by the Indiana Medical Licensing Board for talking publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim.

Days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Bernard told The Indianapolis Star she’d provided an abortion for a 10-year-old rape victim who’d had to cross state lines after Ohio banned abortion.

Indiana’s Republican Attorney General, Todd Rokita, expressed anger at Bernard after she spoke out about the case.

Her employer, Indiana University Health, conducted its own review last year and found no privacy violations. 

But the licensing board took up the case after Rokita complained, and voted to reprimand Bernard and fine her $3000 a decision which has been called ‘dangerous.’

The KFF survey also found 55 percent of all OBGYNs said they’ve seen an increase in how many patients were seeking some form of contraception – particularly sterilization (43%) and IUDs and implants (47%).

Phillips said the ruling has left her unsure about whether she and her husband would try again for kids.

‘Some days we want to try again and other days we don’t. My husband fears my mental health couldn’t handle another diagnosis like Miley’s. 

‘He fears my body couldn’t handle the trauma of surgery again. I have to say I agree with him, I’m terrified. 

‘I don’t want to go through that again, I wouldn’t wish my experience on my worst enemy. I have nightmares about it and the pain will never go away.’

Saturday marks the one year anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned – the decision that federally protected access to abortions decided by the Supreme Court in 1973. 

Almost 50 years later, in June of 2022, the decision was overturned by a vote of 6-3 with all three of President Donald Trump’s court appointees – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – voting to reverse the decision.

The abortion issue will be vital during the 2024 campaign trail as Republicans continue the push for strict bans while the Biden administration works to make the procedure more accessible. 

President Donald Trump was criticized earlier this year by one of the nation’s largest anti-abortion groups when he said restrictions should be left up to individual states. 

Rep. Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s biggest rival, is staunchly anti-abortion and signed into law a bill approved by the Florida Legislature to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. 

Presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence has said ending abortion is ‘more important than politics,’ and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) has dodged questions on the issue.

The White House will kicked off a weeklong push to highlight the impacts of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade with a roundtable discussion on Tuesday. 

First Lady Jill Biden spoke with women who have been denied medical care in the year since the law’s reversal.

Phillips believes its stories like hers and others that will make a lasting impact on policy makers.

‘Women need to speak up, I know it’s personal, I know it’s hard and I know it’s exhausting, but you have got to speak up,’ she said. 

‘There’s so many more stories that happen daily that nobody hears about. 

‘We have to amplify exactly what these laws are doing and to how many women.’ 

According to a May KFF poll, 30 percent of voters said they’ll only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion, which includes nearly half of Democratic voters (46%) and more than one-third of women voters (35%).

About half of voters (53%) said abortion is just one of many important factors they will be weighing up in their decisions during the 2024 election.

Society of Family Planning released new data from July 2022 to March 2023 that showed 25,000 people nationwide were unable to obtain an abortion from a provider, while over 80,000 abortion seekers encountered disruptions to accessing care in states with total or near-total bans.