The Supreme Court‘s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has been a reality for women for several weeks. Sadly, we continue to hear more harrowing stories about life-threatening and important medical care being delayed or outright denied.
On Monday, beauty brand YouTube star Marlena Stell told her story to CNN. Stell, who is a wife and mom of a young daughter, explained in the heartbreaking interview that a pregnancy loss last year affected her terribly. And because of state laws in Texas, where she lives, she was forced to experience the miscarriage multiple times.
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The founder of the cosmetics company Makeup Geek explained to the outlet that she’d gotten pregnant with what she hoped would be her second child last summer. Things were going well at the end of August, with early ultrasounds indicating the fetus was developing. But a routine ultrasound at the 9-week mark sadly revealed she lost the child.
The beauty vlogger told the outlet about that awful moment:
“[The doctor] said there is no heartbeat. There is no viable pregnancy.”
Heartbroken, Stell asked her doctor for common a dilation and curettage procedure — known as a “D&C” — to remove the fetus as soon as possible in order to avoid the possibility of infection and other long-term health problems potentially leading to death. That procedure is the same one used in an abortion. Stell explained in a YouTube video last October that the doctor told her they were unable to complete the procedure in Texas at the time due to the Texas Heartbeat Act:
“The doctor said, ‘Because of the new law that’s passed here, you have to schedule another ultrasound to verify that this pregnancy is not valid before we can give you any sort of medical intervention.'”
Already devastated by the miscarriage in the first place, Stell did not want to have a second ultrasound to confirm the baby was gone. At the time, she explained her emotions about the ordeal on YouTube:
“Someone shoves a wand in my sensitive area and tells me, ‘Hey, you lost your baby’ again. I shouldn’t have to go through that twice.”
No kidding…
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On Monday, she told CNN about how the threat of the second ultrasound weighed on her at the time:
“It’s gut-wrenching because you already know what you’re going to see. It’s just like, seeing it twice, being told that you’re not going to be a mom. Just emotionally carrying it around and just knowing that there’s nothing you could do. It just feels very … it’s like I can’t grieve or move past it because I’m just walking around carrying it.”
For the next two weeks, Stell carried her late fetus while she attempted to find a doctor to perform the D&C. She told the news org that she worried the whole time about infection and future health problems. Finally, she found another OBGYN to do the procedure, after her doc refused a second time despite her getting an additional ultrasound to confirm.
Now months after that awful experience, and in light of the Supreme Court’s recent abortion ban decree, she is pissed:
“I get so angry that I was treated this way because of laws that were passed by men who have never been pregnant and never will be. I’m frustrated, I’m angry and I feel like the women here deserve better than that. It doesn’t matter what side of the fence that you want to sit on, laws like this affect all women regardless of what situation you’re in and it’s not right.”
Amen.
You can watch Marlena’s heartbreaking full interview with CNN (below):
So, so sad.
BTW, here is Marlena’s initial video about the miscarriage and its aftermath, from October of last year:
It’s awful that she had to go through this! Texas does not care about the health and well-being of mothers.
We send all our love to Stell and her family.
[Image via CNN/YouTube/Marlena Stell/YouTube]
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