Woman shares heartbreaking abortion story to highlight pitfalls of Texas' new abortion law

It's been a week since the draconian Texas law barring abortions at six weeks went into effect. Since then, several netizens have shared their own personal and extremely vulnerable stories about abortion and pregnancy with the intent of highlighting the various issues with this barbaric law. One of them was editor Alex Arnold, who took out her "rage and grief" over the Supreme Court's refusal to block the radical law by recounting her heartbreaking experience of having to terminate a pregnancy last year. Sharing her story in a now-viral Twitter thread, Arnold revealed that she "was 18 weeks into a very wanted pregnancy when [she] learned that the baby [she] was carrying had a catastrophic, fatal diagnosis."

Arnold was informed that the fetus in her womb had triploidy, "a lethal chromosomal numeric abnormality, characterized on extra haploid set of chromosomes" which "accounts for approximately 20% of chromosomally abnormal first-trimester miscarriages." She then faced three equally-heartbreaking options for moving forward. Arnold explained that she could either "continue the pregnancy knowing the likeliest outcome was that he'd die in-utero within the next weeks or months, and deliver him stillborn," or "continue the pregnancy on the chance I could carry to term or close to it, knowing he'd die within days or weeks in the hospital."

The third option presented to her was: "End the pregnancy via D&E surgery within the next few weeks, while it was still legal in the state of Pennsylvania, with a skilled and compassionate doctor." Arnold explained that for her, "#3 was the best of three terrible options, all of which would leave me with heartbreak and no living baby." Elaborating on the factors that contributed to this decision, she wrote: "I could take time off work for the procedure. I wouldn't be living in fear of going into a traumatic delivery, which was huge for my mental health. And I knew this baby would never suffer from the constellation of defects he had. (You can google triploidy. It's awful.)"

"I deserved to be able to make this decision, to make a choice that was best for my health and for my family. Of course, I did. EVERY pregnant person does, no matter their reasons. Let me be totally clear: I do not deserve these rights more because something sad happened to me," Arnold continued. "If you're not sold on complete abortion access but think I should have had the choice given my circumstances, please take the thought exercise further. NO ONE should be forced to give birth if their mental, physical, emotional well-being would suffer."

"Because this is the truth: 'Pro-life' is the most grotesque misnomer. It is forced birth. I would have been forced to give birth, to put my body and mind through even more trauma, had I not been protected by state laws and my own privilege," she tweeted. Arnold went on to reiterate that "abortion access is healthcare. Anyone who believes otherwise is choosing to be willfully ignorant about the realities of pregnancy, birth, and raising children. Or hateful. Or both! I don't love speaking in absolutes but lives are on the line in Texas and anywhere else that follows."

Arnold's story inspired several others to share their opinions on why they oppose the Texas "heartbeat" anti-abortion bill. "I've worked in OB/NICU since 1985 and your story is precisely why I fully support abortion. I have seen way too many tragedies, and no one should get to decide for another. That, plus birthing and parenting my own very wanted child and realizing just how hard it is," tweeted @Krispi_Largo.