WEBVTT - Allie Phillips Fled TN to Have An Abortion; Now She’s Running for Office

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<v Speaker 1>Hi everyone, I'm Kitty Kuric and this is next question.

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<v Speaker 1>As twenty eight year old Ali Phillips tells it, She's

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<v Speaker 1>just a regular working mom to Alleie, her six year

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<v Speaker 1>old daughter. Allie runs a daycare center from her home

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<v Speaker 1>and never considered herself to be a political person. Then

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<v Speaker 1>came Allie's second pregnancy, which involved life threatening complications for

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<v Speaker 1>her and no chance of survival for her baby. As

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<v Speaker 1>Allie was scrambling to secure an abortion in a state

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<v Speaker 1>other than her native Tennessee, where abortions were banned, Miley,

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<v Speaker 1>the name she had given her second daughter, died in utero.

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<v Speaker 1>To say the whole ordeal was traumatic doesn't even begin

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<v Speaker 1>to describe what Ali and her family went through. When

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<v Speaker 1>she returned to Tennessee, Ali met with her state representative,

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<v Speaker 1>who told her that he hadn't thought of situations like

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<v Speaker 1>hers because he thought only first pregnancies could have serious complications.

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<v Speaker 1>She was dumbfounded by his ignorance, so she decided she

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<v Speaker 1>needed to do more. She's running for office, and she's

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<v Speaker 1>suing Tennessee with the help of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

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<v Speaker 1>Ali's story is both harrowing and inspiring, and shows in

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<v Speaker 1>stark terms what happens in many states when a woman

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<v Speaker 1>no longer has access to abortion care. Here's Ali in

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<v Speaker 1>her own words.

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<v Speaker 2>My name is Ali Phillips. I'm twenty eight years old

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<v Speaker 2>and I live in Tennessee. I grew up here in Tennessee.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been here my whole life. We actually grew up

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<v Speaker 2>in a very small town, so everybody knew everybody. You

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<v Speaker 2>couldn't do anything without the neighbor knowing. And growing up,

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<v Speaker 2>we were a lower income family, so we didn't really

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<v Speaker 2>do a lot of traveling or big trips and stuff

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<v Speaker 2>like that. And when I turned sixteen, I got my

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<v Speaker 2>first job at Sonic and from there, I've just had

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<v Speaker 2>a job ever since, and I've just kind of worked

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<v Speaker 2>in food industry. I've worked in retail, just a little

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<v Speaker 2>bit of everything, kind of public work. And then when

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<v Speaker 2>I was twenty, I was in a relationship with somebody

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<v Speaker 2>and found out I was pregnant very early on, and

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<v Speaker 2>that relationship ended shortly after she was born. She was

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<v Speaker 2>two weeks old when we separated, and I was a

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<v Speaker 2>single mom after that, not really getting help from him,

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<v Speaker 2>but my parents helped as much as they could. I

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<v Speaker 2>was going into my last semester of college the time

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<v Speaker 2>she was born. She was born in the middle summer,

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<v Speaker 2>and so I was a full time college student, a

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<v Speaker 2>newly single mom with an infant, and I was working

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<v Speaker 2>three jobs to one make sure my daughter had her

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<v Speaker 2>formula because she had a lot of digestive issues. Had

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<v Speaker 2>by the expense to formula, and I was on wick

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<v Speaker 2>to alleviate some of the costs, but she wouldn't take

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<v Speaker 2>so much formula. I had to buy a lot out

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<v Speaker 2>of pocket. So I was working three jobs to make

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<v Speaker 2>sure I could get through college. My daughter was fed

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<v Speaker 2>and clothed, and that we were just Our bills were

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<v Speaker 2>paid and everything was kind of stable.

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<v Speaker 1>Your husband, Brian Lynch, has been a wonderful stepfather to Adalie,

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<v Speaker 1>which is so great because it sounds as if it

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<v Speaker 1>was quite a struggle for you as a single mom

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<v Speaker 1>with your daughter, and to have rekindled your relationship with

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<v Speaker 1>your now husband, Brian must have been a relief for you,

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<v Speaker 1>not only to have a partner, but also to have

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<v Speaker 1>someone who would be a father to your daughter.

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<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, and he actually grew up with a single mom.

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<v Speaker 2>He's never met his father, and that is something that

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<v Speaker 2>he has devoted his life to Addalie is making sure

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<v Speaker 2>she never knows what it's like to not have a

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<v Speaker 2>dad around, and I think that's a lot about him

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<v Speaker 2>as a man. He doesn't have any biological children of

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<v Speaker 2>his own, so Attalie is his only child, and he

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<v Speaker 2>has taken it with so much grace and so much patience.

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<v Speaker 2>Twenty twenty two was a very interesting year. We got

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<v Speaker 2>married that March, and then we bought the house that

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<v Speaker 2>we're in right now in October, and I found out

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<v Speaker 2>we were pregnant the beginning of November, and so that

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<v Speaker 2>was the timeline we kind of wanted for ourselves, was

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<v Speaker 2>get married, by a house and then try for a

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<v Speaker 2>baby because we wanted to expand our family. He wanted

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<v Speaker 2>a biological child, and so the fact that we bought

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<v Speaker 2>the house and then two weeks later found out I

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<v Speaker 2>was pregnant, it was just like, okay, well, we wasted

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<v Speaker 2>no time at all. So we were really excited and

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<v Speaker 2>we immediately called friends and family, really close friends and family.

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<v Speaker 2>But I told him that I wanted to make sure

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<v Speaker 2>everything was okay with the pregnancy before we told like

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<v Speaker 2>the public, before I posted on Facebook and stuff like that,

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<v Speaker 2>because you know, it's never official unless it's Facebook official, right.

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<v Speaker 2>So we went through the first trimester and everything was fine.

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<v Speaker 2>There was never any reason for concern, and we hit

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<v Speaker 2>that twelve thirteen week mark and everything is again still

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<v Speaker 2>was perfect. So we went ahead and made our public

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<v Speaker 2>posts that we were expecting in July of twenty twenty three,

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<v Speaker 2>and so the love and support that we received from

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<v Speaker 2>friends and family was so phenomenal and it just made

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<v Speaker 2>us that much more excited. And we had already started

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<v Speaker 2>buying things that you need for a newborn. We have

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<v Speaker 2>the crib, we had blankets, swaddles, pacifiers, bottles, diapers, whites, toys,

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<v Speaker 2>everything you can think of we had ready to go

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<v Speaker 2>in the garage. And it was around fifteen weeks. My

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<v Speaker 2>mom actually got me one of those four D ultrasound

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<v Speaker 2>gender reveal little things, and so we went and did that.

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<v Speaker 2>We were hoping for a boy since we already have

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<v Speaker 2>a daughter, but nonetheless we found out we were having

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<v Speaker 2>a girl, and so we were still very excited. I

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<v Speaker 2>told him that he just gets to be a girl

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<v Speaker 2>dad now, and you know, he should be proud of that.

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<v Speaker 2>He'll get his nails painted and bows in his hair.

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<v Speaker 2>And so we started thinking about girl names, and I

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<v Speaker 2>personally don't like the super common names. Like my daughter's

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<v Speaker 2>name is Adalie. I don't know any other Adalie's. So

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<v Speaker 2>I wanted her to have a unique name. And we

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<v Speaker 2>are both big Miley Cyrus fans, and I thought about

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<v Speaker 2>it and I was like, you know what, Miley is

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<v Speaker 2>a household name because of Miley Cyrus, but I personally

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<v Speaker 2>don't really know. I don't know any other Miley's. It's

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<v Speaker 2>a common no name, but I don't know any Miley's.

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<v Speaker 2>And so I started thinking about the name Miley. And

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<v Speaker 2>then her song Flowers had just dropped, and I was like, Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>well let's think about a flower. And so I called

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<v Speaker 2>my husband he was at work, and I was like,

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<v Speaker 2>what do you think of the name Miley Rose? And

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<v Speaker 2>that's how her name came about.

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<v Speaker 1>You all were very excited about this baby girl.

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<v Speaker 2>We were ecstatic. We were My parents were excited because

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<v Speaker 2>they were ready for another grand baby. This was going

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<v Speaker 2>to be his first biological child. And I, growing up,

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<v Speaker 2>I always wanted to have two I always wanted to

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<v Speaker 2>have two babies, to kids, and so I knew that

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<v Speaker 2>this was part of my life's path, was to have

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<v Speaker 2>another child so we were over the moon. We were

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<v Speaker 2>so excited.

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<v Speaker 1>When did you get the news that something was wrong

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<v Speaker 1>with the baby.

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<v Speaker 2>So we went to our nineteen week anatomy scan, and

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<v Speaker 2>we made it a family occasion because we didn't have

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<v Speaker 2>any other reason to think it was going to be

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<v Speaker 2>anything but a normal appointment. And so me, Brian, and

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<v Speaker 2>Attalie all went to the doctor together and it was

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<v Speaker 2>about five minutes into my ultrasound that the technician had

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<v Speaker 2>stopped and told me that she needed to go grab

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<v Speaker 2>my doctor, that she had saw some pretty serious things.

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<v Speaker 2>And her face kind of dropped and my husband looked

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<v Speaker 2>at her and said, why do you look sad? And

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<v Speaker 2>she just, very kind of under her breath, said I

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<v Speaker 2>just don't want to tell anybody bad news, and then

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<v Speaker 2>she walked out of the room. Immediately, I got like

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<v Speaker 2>a knot in my throat, my hands started getting sweaty,

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<v Speaker 2>my heart's beating really fast, and I'm like, oh my god,

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<v Speaker 2>like this is new to me. This is only my

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<v Speaker 2>second pregnancy. My first pregnancy was completely fine, had no issues,

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<v Speaker 2>so I didn't know what to expect. And my ob

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<v Speaker 2>came in so I just looked at your ultrasound images

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<v Speaker 2>and the fetus seems to have no fluid ambiotic fluid

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<v Speaker 2>around her. Also, both of her kidneys seemed to have

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<v Speaker 2>not formed correctly and aren't functioning. And she's measuring about

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<v Speaker 2>fifteen weeks, so about a month behind. So with that,

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<v Speaker 2>they said that there was further testing that they wanted

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<v Speaker 2>to be done. So they referres over to a maternal

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<v Speaker 2>fetal medicine specialist and so we set up that appointment

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<v Speaker 2>four days later. This was on February twentieth last year.

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<v Speaker 2>February twenty fourth was that Friday. We went to Nashville

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<v Speaker 2>for the high risk doctor appointment, just me and Brian

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<v Speaker 2>this time, and we go in start the ultrasound. This

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<v Speaker 2>ultrasound lasted a little bit longer and again the technician

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<v Speaker 2>was like, I need to go grab your doctor, stay

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<v Speaker 2>right here, and so she went and grabbed the doctor.

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<v Speaker 2>And one of the first things she asked me when

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<v Speaker 2>she came in was how was your first pregnancy? And

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<v Speaker 2>I told her completely normal, didn't even have morning sickness.

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<v Speaker 2>Labor and delivery went great, she came out healthy, perfectly fine,

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<v Speaker 2>and she was like, okay, so this is what we're

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<v Speaker 2>looking at. The ultrasound technician put the wand back on

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<v Speaker 2>my lower abdomen, and so as we were looking at

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<v Speaker 2>the TV seeing Miley in my womb, the doctor was

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<v Speaker 2>explaining what we were looking at. She reconfirmed what my

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<v Speaker 2>ob had said and said that there was little to

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<v Speaker 2>no ambiotic fluid around the fetus. She confirmed that both

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<v Speaker 2>of her kidneys did not form correctly, and then she

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<v Speaker 2>did confirm that she was measuring a month behind. But

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<v Speaker 2>then she continued, and she continued to say that her

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<v Speaker 2>bladder and her stomach did not form correctly either and

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<v Speaker 2>were not functioning. She said that they could not find

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<v Speaker 2>lung development, and she said that her heart only had

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<v Speaker 2>two out of four working chambers in it. Now, while

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<v Speaker 2>she was saying all of these things, in my mind,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm going through all of the like okay, well she

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<v Speaker 2>can get a heart transplant. She can live with one kidney,

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<v Speaker 2>so we can get a kidney transplant. You know, we

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<v Speaker 2>can tube feed her, like trying to think of like everything,

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<v Speaker 2>like okay, these things are fixable, like this is okay,

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<v Speaker 2>we can do something. But then she continued up and

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<v Speaker 2>she went to her head and she said, and up here,

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<v Speaker 2>we're looking at her brain. And as soon as she

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<v Speaker 2>said we're looking at her brain. I just felt my

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<v Speaker 2>chest sink because I knew the brain is the engine

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<v Speaker 2>of your body, and if there's something wrong with the brain,

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<v Speaker 2>there's a good possibility it's not good. And so she

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<v Speaker 2>continued to show me on the ultrasound image that there

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<v Speaker 2>is a line between her brain that did not completely complete,

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<v Speaker 2>and she said that her brain didn't split into two

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<v Speaker 2>hemispheres at the early stages of pregnancy, and that is

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<v Speaker 2>diagnosed as semi lobar holoprosencephale and semi lowbar HPE. Only

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<v Speaker 2>three percent of fetuses usually survived to birth with that

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<v Speaker 2>diagnosis slone, and then they usually passed within that first

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<v Speaker 2>year of life. So with the HPE and everything else

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<v Speaker 2>that was wrong, she was deemed incompatible with life, and

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<v Speaker 2>so my doctor had said that she would likely not

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<v Speaker 2>survive outside of the womb and possibly could pass in utero.

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<v Speaker 2>Hearing all that information, it was it was like a

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<v Speaker 2>surreal kind of moment. I felt like I was in

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<v Speaker 2>a haze. I was just kind of waiting for her

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<v Speaker 2>to be like just kidding, like she's totally fine, but

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<v Speaker 2>like it was just kind of one of those it's

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<v Speaker 2>so awful, How can this be true, and so the

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<v Speaker 2>first thing I thought to ask was what are we

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<v Speaker 2>supposed to do? And she said that I had two options.

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<v Speaker 2>She said that I could continue my pregnancy, but if

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<v Speaker 2>I chose to continue my pregnancy, I'd be putting myself

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<v Speaker 2>at risk for a miscarriage is still birth, or if

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<v Speaker 2>she did survive birth, she'd be put into hospice care

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<v Speaker 2>immediately after to pass. And then she said, my other

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<v Speaker 2>option was to terminate. She said, if you chose to

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<v Speaker 2>terminate because of Tennessee's ban, you would have to look

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<v Speaker 2>out of state and I cannot offer you any resources.

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<v Speaker 2>You would have to do that on your own. And

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<v Speaker 2>so my husband chimed in because at this point, I'm

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<v Speaker 2>just stunned. I'm like frozen in place, and he asked

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<v Speaker 2>her how long does she have? Like what are the

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<v Speaker 2>chances if we continue? How long is she going to

0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:48.320
<v Speaker 2>live for? And she said that there's no way to tell,

0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:52.640
<v Speaker 2>but the longer I stayed pregnant, the worse she was

0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:55.600
<v Speaker 2>going to get and the higher risk my health would become.

0:12:56.920 --> 0:13:00.599
<v Speaker 2>Because her growth stunted at fifteen weeks, even though I

0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:04.839
<v Speaker 2>was nineteen weeks, Miley was never going to hit viability.

0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:07.599
<v Speaker 2>So even if I stayed pregnant and I was progressing

0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.600
<v Speaker 2>in my pregnancy, she was staying at a fifteen week fetus,

0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.280
<v Speaker 2>and so she told us that we didn't have to

0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.000
<v Speaker 2>make a decision right then and there, but to call

0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:20.120
<v Speaker 2>her if we had any further questions, and then we left.

0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:24.640
<v Speaker 2>They didn't really tell me specifics of what was going

0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:28.440
<v Speaker 2>to cause me to be at risk. I think because

0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.679
<v Speaker 2>she stopped growing at fifteen weeks and had all of

0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:36.360
<v Speaker 2>these fatal anomalies that the longer I stayed pregnant, she

0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:39.199
<v Speaker 2>was essentially just kind of going to kind of deteriorate

0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:43.280
<v Speaker 2>in my uterus, which is going to cause health problems

0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:46.559
<v Speaker 2>for me. With the little to know ambionic fluid, at

0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.760
<v Speaker 2>some point, the uterus is going to most likely shrink

0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.719
<v Speaker 2>with her, and it could cause infertility to happen. It

0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.520
<v Speaker 2>could cause me to lose my uterus, and if her

0:13:56.720 --> 0:14:01.000
<v Speaker 2>body so when organs aren't working, they essentially just kind

0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:03.760
<v Speaker 2>of start decaying, and so that would put me at

0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:07.200
<v Speaker 2>risk for infections and things like that, possibly going septic.

0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:12.120
<v Speaker 2>So they didn't really give me a diagnosis of like,

0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:14.719
<v Speaker 2>if you stayed pregnant, you're going to end up with this.

0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:17.920
<v Speaker 2>She just said, the longer I stay pregnant, the worst

0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:20.680
<v Speaker 2>Miley's going to get, the higher risk my health becomes.

0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:25.360
<v Speaker 2>So we drove home after the appointment. We live in Clarksville,

0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.400
<v Speaker 2>so it's about an hour north of Nashville, and it

0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:31.120
<v Speaker 2>was a very quiet drive. We didn't talk to each other.

0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:34.840
<v Speaker 2>We just sat in silence, kind of reliving everything we

0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:39.000
<v Speaker 2>were just told. And my parents drove up from Nashville

0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.400
<v Speaker 2>to meet us at home because we had to break

0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.960
<v Speaker 2>the news to my then five year old that her

0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:48.680
<v Speaker 2>little sister wasn't coming home. And so we sat and

0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.640
<v Speaker 2>we talked to my parents and I talked to my husband,

0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.920
<v Speaker 2>and it was a very hard decision to come to

0:14:56.360 --> 0:15:01.840
<v Speaker 2>the route of termination. I kept telling my that I'm

0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.320
<v Speaker 2>not in the best health as it is due to

0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.040
<v Speaker 2>a recent surgery I had a couple of years ago.

0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:12.200
<v Speaker 2>I struggle with vitamins, hydration, protein, things like that for

0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:15.160
<v Speaker 2>a healthy body. So I knew if I was putting

0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.560
<v Speaker 2>my life at risk, it was going to be a

0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:23.000
<v Speaker 2>very challenging situation to go through. And knowing that I

0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:26.160
<v Speaker 2>don't have the healthiest body as it is, I didn't

0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.280
<v Speaker 2>want to risk leaving my five year old without a mom.

0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.720
<v Speaker 2>I didn't want to risk leaving my husband without his wife.

0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.600
<v Speaker 2>I didn't want to risk leaving my parents without their daughter. So,

0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:40.960
<v Speaker 2>knowing that Miley was going to die at some point,

0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:44.800
<v Speaker 2>whether in utero or immediately after birth, it didn't make

0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:48.960
<v Speaker 2>sense to put my life at risk too and cause much,

0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:53.040
<v Speaker 2>so much more damage than needed. So ultimately we decided

0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:55.600
<v Speaker 2>that termination was the best route to preserve my health

0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:59.200
<v Speaker 2>and fertility and to keep my family stable in together.

0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:03.360
<v Speaker 2>I shared my journey on TikTok one because I was

0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:06.520
<v Speaker 2>already on TikTok before all of this happened, and my

0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:10.800
<v Speaker 2>followers knew that I was pregnant, And the week before

0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.760
<v Speaker 2>I had posted a video saying my daughter's name is

0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.760
<v Speaker 2>hidden in this video, can you guess it? And it

0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:22.240
<v Speaker 2>was me and Adalie dancing around to Miley Cyrus's song Flowers,

0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:26.440
<v Speaker 2>and Adalie was holding a rose. And so my idea

0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:28.680
<v Speaker 2>was I was going to go to my anatomy scan,

0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.680
<v Speaker 2>get new ultrasound images, come home, and then make a

0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:36.920
<v Speaker 2>video with the new images stating like this is Miley's name,

0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:39.280
<v Speaker 2>or this is her name Miley Rose, like a lot

0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:40.840
<v Speaker 2>of you guys guess it, and just kind of be

0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:46.360
<v Speaker 2>like a fun reveal. So we got home. That was Friday.

0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.160
<v Speaker 2>It wasn't until Saturday when I made that follow up

0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:54.840
<v Speaker 2>video of Miley's diagnoses, because after my parents left that day,

0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.840
<v Speaker 2>I cried myself to sleep. I didn't want to be awake.

0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:02.200
<v Speaker 2>I just wanted everything to be a nightmare and hoped

0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:04.800
<v Speaker 2>that I woke up and everything was going to be okay.

0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:07.480
<v Speaker 2>So I went to sleep, and so the next day

0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:11.359
<v Speaker 2>is when I followed up and made the video, because

0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:15.360
<v Speaker 2>that Monday, I posted video saying my doctor said there's

0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:17.760
<v Speaker 2>something's wrong, so we're going to see a high risk doctor.

0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.000
<v Speaker 2>So a lot of my followers were like, keep us posted,

0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.280
<v Speaker 2>what's the update, hope everything's okay, let us know what's

0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:27.240
<v Speaker 2>going on, and so I wanted to update them. And

0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:32.680
<v Speaker 2>I'm very transparent on my account. I don't really sugarcoat things.

0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:38.600
<v Speaker 2>I'm very upfront, and so when I made that video,

0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.040
<v Speaker 2>I didn't expect it to go viral. I didn't expect

0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:45.480
<v Speaker 2>to get any sort of news media requests from it.

0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:47.800
<v Speaker 2>I just wanted to update my followers on what was

0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:52.480
<v Speaker 2>going on. Also, I was paying very close attention to

0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:54.800
<v Speaker 2>Roe v Wade being overturned, and I was very vocal

0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:59.120
<v Speaker 2>on my account about how I felt about Tennessee's trigger band,

0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:03.560
<v Speaker 2>and so, knowing that I was fighting for abortion access,

0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:06.520
<v Speaker 2>never knowing I was going to need one myself, I

0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.119
<v Speaker 2>thought it was extra important that I pointed out the

0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.200
<v Speaker 2>fact that this is a non viable pregnancy and I

0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:16.080
<v Speaker 2>have to flee my state. And I wanted that reality

0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:20.040
<v Speaker 2>to be documented because so many women don't talk about

0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:23.119
<v Speaker 2>things like this because they're made to feel ashamed or

0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:27.159
<v Speaker 2>disgusted or whatever it is society makes us feel about abortions.

0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:30.040
<v Speaker 2>I wanted to make sure that one my emotions were

0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:32.520
<v Speaker 2>documented and to show how real and raw it is.

0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:35.760
<v Speaker 2>So I made that video, and I think that's my

0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:38.960
<v Speaker 2>most viewed video as far as my pregnancy journey goes,

0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:43.560
<v Speaker 2>and it went viral. It actually went international, and so

0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:46.639
<v Speaker 2>I started getting media requests to talk about it, and

0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:50.160
<v Speaker 2>then that amplified the story, and then I started showing

0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.240
<v Speaker 2>up in the news and news articles and people were

0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:55.960
<v Speaker 2>seeing like, oh my god, this woman has to leave

0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:59.000
<v Speaker 2>her state for pregnancy that's threatening her life, a non

0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:03.359
<v Speaker 2>viable pregnancy, and so throughout the process, I wanted to

0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:07.200
<v Speaker 2>make sure I documented every single moment of it. Good

0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:11.680
<v Speaker 2>and bad. And I did that because when you read

0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:16.360
<v Speaker 2>an article, you read very minimal details, you just kind

0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:20.240
<v Speaker 2>of get the overview of what happened. But me kind

0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:23.639
<v Speaker 2>of logging what was happening to me made it so

0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:26.199
<v Speaker 2>much more real for people to see the raw emotion

0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:28.880
<v Speaker 2>that I was going through. One of the videos being

0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:31.880
<v Speaker 2>me in New York City crying in a corner by myself.

0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:35.440
<v Speaker 2>That was a video of the most raw emotion I

0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:39.160
<v Speaker 2>think I've ever posted online. And a lot of people

0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:41.639
<v Speaker 2>ask me why I'm putting that on the internet, and

0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:43.399
<v Speaker 2>I said, because it needs to be on the internet,

0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:47.000
<v Speaker 2>because people need to see what women are going through

0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:49.920
<v Speaker 2>that live in these states that have completely taken away

0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:52.960
<v Speaker 2>our right to abortion care or just healthcare like that

0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:56.240
<v Speaker 2>in general. So I documented it for the sole purpose

0:19:56.359 --> 0:20:01.200
<v Speaker 2>of humanizing the situation, so it's not just black and

0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:05.359
<v Speaker 2>white words on a screen, it's a face and a person.

0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:11.800
<v Speaker 1>After this break, Alie takes us through her journey to

0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:15.040
<v Speaker 1>New York City to give the medical care she couldn't

0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:22.480
<v Speaker 1>get in Tennessee. If you want to get smarter, every

0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.639
<v Speaker 1>morning with a breakdown of the news and fascinating takes

0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:28.800
<v Speaker 1>on health and wellness and pop Culture. Sign up for

0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:32.000
<v Speaker 1>our daily newsletter Wake Up Call by going to Katiecouric

0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:45.160
<v Speaker 1>dot com. You had to go out of state because

0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:49.480
<v Speaker 1>of Tennessee's restrictions. How did you decide to go to

0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:52.440
<v Speaker 1>New York? How did you determine where you were going

0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:56.840
<v Speaker 1>to get your abortion? And quite frankly, Ali paid for it.

0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.280
<v Speaker 2>It wasn't an easy process, I'll tell you that. So

0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:03.600
<v Speaker 2>my high risk appointment was on that Friday. That following Monday,

0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:05.879
<v Speaker 2>my mom and I took the day off work to

0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:10.320
<v Speaker 2>start calling clinics in different states, clinics that allowed abortions. Now,

0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.600
<v Speaker 2>when we talk about states that allow abortions, we have

0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:16.280
<v Speaker 2>to remember that not every single one of them is

0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:20.720
<v Speaker 2>the same. Some states allow abortions up to fifteen weeks,

0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:23.480
<v Speaker 2>some states allow it up to twenty weeks or viability.

0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:27.280
<v Speaker 2>Some offer medical exceptions, some don't. So you have to

0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.960
<v Speaker 2>call these individual states and individual clinics and truly ask

0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:34.480
<v Speaker 2>them the question, like when is your cutoff? And some

0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:36.560
<v Speaker 2>of the states I are. Some of the clinics I called,

0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:40.760
<v Speaker 2>their cutoff was eighteen weeks or fifteen weeks or twenty weeks.

0:21:40.920 --> 0:21:43.280
<v Speaker 2>And at that point I was going into my twentieth week,

0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:46.480
<v Speaker 2>and I knew that I needed to go the following

0:21:46.520 --> 0:21:48.720
<v Speaker 2>week because I had to give my daycare moms enough

0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:51.520
<v Speaker 2>notice to find backup care for their kiddos, so I

0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:54.040
<v Speaker 2>wasn't able to do it that week, also for the

0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:58.440
<v Speaker 2>simple fact of the cost. So we called five different

0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:01.040
<v Speaker 2>states and I ended up calling the New York abortion

0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:04.920
<v Speaker 2>line and gave them the information that they asked for,

0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:08.000
<v Speaker 2>and they connected me to a clinic in Manhattan. Now,

0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:11.640
<v Speaker 2>another problem that women like me are facing is when

0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:15.000
<v Speaker 2>calling these clinics and trying to get an appointment, there's

0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:17.800
<v Speaker 2>a long wait list because not only are they seeing

0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:20.360
<v Speaker 2>patients from in state, they're seeing an influx of out

0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:24.640
<v Speaker 2>of state patients as well. And not knowing how long

0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:28.560
<v Speaker 2>I had before something bad happened with my pregnancy, I

0:22:28.640 --> 0:22:31.880
<v Speaker 2>couldn't wait two weeks, three weeks, a month or two

0:22:32.160 --> 0:22:35.280
<v Speaker 2>before I could get in for the procedure because my

0:22:35.400 --> 0:22:38.880
<v Speaker 2>doctor couldn't tell me what longer meant. An hour, a month,

0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:41.200
<v Speaker 2>we don't know, and so I was kind of just

0:22:41.280 --> 0:22:44.320
<v Speaker 2>playing a guessing game every day with my life, not

0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:47.399
<v Speaker 2>knowing women things were going to get bad. So I

0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:51.040
<v Speaker 2>got a hold of this clinic in Manhattan, and one

0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:52.959
<v Speaker 2>of the things I wanted to make sure the clinic

0:22:53.440 --> 0:22:58.119
<v Speaker 2>was accommodating for was one I wanted to do the

0:22:58.160 --> 0:23:00.760
<v Speaker 2>surgical procedure. I didn't want to do it induced labor.

0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:04.000
<v Speaker 2>I love Miley to death, but I didn't want to

0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:06.240
<v Speaker 2>see her in that way. I didn't want to see

0:23:06.280 --> 0:23:11.280
<v Speaker 2>her deceased. And then the other thing was being able

0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:16.240
<v Speaker 2>to have that coordination with a funeral home to obtain

0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:18.280
<v Speaker 2>her remains to get her cremated so I could bring

0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:21.440
<v Speaker 2>her home. Some clinics do not work with funeral homes.

0:23:21.800 --> 0:23:23.359
<v Speaker 2>So there were a few things that I wanted to

0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:26.080
<v Speaker 2>make sure we're done, and this clinic was very helpful

0:23:26.280 --> 0:23:29.760
<v Speaker 2>and they checked every box I needed. Midtermber abortions are

0:23:29.920 --> 0:23:32.240
<v Speaker 2>a two day procedure. The first day is a lot

0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:34.560
<v Speaker 2>of pre op stuff and the second day is the

0:23:34.640 --> 0:23:40.760
<v Speaker 2>actual surgery. And once we confirmed everything was good, they

0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:42.960
<v Speaker 2>told me how much it was going to be. And

0:23:43.880 --> 0:23:47.080
<v Speaker 2>at twenty weeks, I was looking at around one thy

0:23:47.200 --> 0:23:51.200
<v Speaker 2>to eleven hundred, and then at twenty one weeks, I

0:23:51.280 --> 0:23:54.560
<v Speaker 2>was looking closer to two thousand dollars, and so it

0:23:54.880 --> 0:23:58.119
<v Speaker 2>jumps a grand based off of a week, and so

0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:02.480
<v Speaker 2>I was like, OKAYT let's just confirm this day and

0:24:03.080 --> 0:24:06.359
<v Speaker 2>me and my husband will figure it out. So the

0:24:06.480 --> 0:24:09.600
<v Speaker 2>thousand to eleven hundred dollars for the procedure was already

0:24:09.600 --> 0:24:12.360
<v Speaker 2>a lot for a low income family, and then we're

0:24:12.400 --> 0:24:15.640
<v Speaker 2>looking at a three day stay in Manhattan that's also

0:24:15.720 --> 0:24:19.280
<v Speaker 2>a lot of money, and also round trip from Nashville

0:24:19.320 --> 0:24:24.000
<v Speaker 2>to LaGuardia for two people, and then taxis, ubers, food,

0:24:24.119 --> 0:24:26.719
<v Speaker 2>whatever you know. It added up. It ended up being

0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:30.840
<v Speaker 2>close to five thousand dollars, which we don't have anything

0:24:30.880 --> 0:24:33.280
<v Speaker 2>in savings. We don't even have five thousand dollars in

0:24:33.359 --> 0:24:37.000
<v Speaker 2>our account, so trying to pay for that was impossible

0:24:37.080 --> 0:24:41.240
<v Speaker 2>for us. We started looking into taking out loans. We

0:24:41.680 --> 0:24:45.200
<v Speaker 2>reached out to family, but our families aren't independently wealthy,

0:24:45.320 --> 0:24:47.080
<v Speaker 2>so you know, they could only help with a little bit.

0:24:47.760 --> 0:24:50.280
<v Speaker 2>And I shared that online how much show was going

0:24:50.320 --> 0:24:52.320
<v Speaker 2>to cost, and some of my followers had suggested I

0:24:52.359 --> 0:24:55.560
<v Speaker 2>started to go fundme. And at first I didn't want

0:24:55.560 --> 0:24:58.080
<v Speaker 2>to start to go fund me because it wasn't anybody

0:24:58.119 --> 0:25:01.000
<v Speaker 2>else's problem but mine. I want people to think I

0:25:01.119 --> 0:25:05.280
<v Speaker 2>was being just taking money from people from my situation.

0:25:05.880 --> 0:25:08.320
<v Speaker 2>But it got to the point that I was like

0:25:08.520 --> 0:25:10.480
<v Speaker 2>if I don't get to New York, I don't know

0:25:10.560 --> 0:25:13.200
<v Speaker 2>what's going to happen to me. And so I bit

0:25:13.280 --> 0:25:16.080
<v Speaker 2>the bullet and I started to gofund me and I

0:25:16.200 --> 0:25:19.440
<v Speaker 2>shared it online and my followers matched the goal the

0:25:19.520 --> 0:25:22.919
<v Speaker 2>same day even exceeded the goal, and so we were

0:25:23.000 --> 0:25:25.920
<v Speaker 2>able to book our round trip airfare. We were able

0:25:26.040 --> 0:25:30.640
<v Speaker 2>to pay for the abortion, and everything was covered. All

0:25:30.760 --> 0:25:33.240
<v Speaker 2>costs were covered, and I was able. We were both

0:25:33.280 --> 0:25:35.720
<v Speaker 2>able to take that week off of work. That's another

0:25:35.840 --> 0:25:38.240
<v Speaker 2>thing is we both had to take that week off

0:25:38.320 --> 0:25:41.480
<v Speaker 2>of work, which is two weeks technically of a paycheck

0:25:41.640 --> 0:25:46.080
<v Speaker 2>being cut from us. So the cost is very damaging

0:25:46.400 --> 0:25:49.040
<v Speaker 2>for low income families. And that is something I've talked

0:25:49.080 --> 0:25:52.280
<v Speaker 2>about with these abortion bands, is these affect low income

0:25:52.359 --> 0:25:54.480
<v Speaker 2>families because if you're wealthy enough, you can just go

0:25:54.600 --> 0:25:56.119
<v Speaker 2>out of state and it's not going to hurt your

0:25:56.160 --> 0:26:00.040
<v Speaker 2>bank account. But for us, it's a big ask. My

0:26:00.160 --> 0:26:02.520
<v Speaker 2>husband flew to New York together, Ada Lee stayed with

0:26:02.600 --> 0:26:06.400
<v Speaker 2>my parents in Nashville, and we got to New York

0:26:06.480 --> 0:26:10.160
<v Speaker 2>City on that Monday in March seventh was my appointment.

0:26:11.200 --> 0:26:13.600
<v Speaker 2>I had to go to that appointment alone because a

0:26:13.640 --> 0:26:17.040
<v Speaker 2>lot of abortion clinics are patient only, one for privacy

0:26:17.160 --> 0:26:19.240
<v Speaker 2>and two to just kind of keep the traffic inside

0:26:19.280 --> 0:26:21.680
<v Speaker 2>the clinic down. So I had to leave my husband

0:26:21.720 --> 0:26:24.399
<v Speaker 2>behind at the apartment we were at, and then I

0:26:24.480 --> 0:26:26.919
<v Speaker 2>went to the clinic. I was told i'd be there

0:26:27.000 --> 0:26:29.159
<v Speaker 2>for about five or six hours that day, so to

0:26:29.240 --> 0:26:31.720
<v Speaker 2>plan for a long day, and so I started the

0:26:31.800 --> 0:26:36.040
<v Speaker 2>day doing blood work, just random things that you need

0:26:36.080 --> 0:26:38.040
<v Speaker 2>to do if you're going to be going under anesthesia.

0:26:38.840 --> 0:26:40.680
<v Speaker 2>And I was there for a couple hours when I

0:26:40.760 --> 0:26:43.960
<v Speaker 2>was called back to do my sonogram. They do the

0:26:44.119 --> 0:26:48.560
<v Speaker 2>sonogram before the abortion to make sure they're charging the

0:26:48.640 --> 0:26:51.440
<v Speaker 2>correct amount for the feet of size, and because I

0:26:51.560 --> 0:26:53.960
<v Speaker 2>was twenty weeks but she was measuring it fifteen weeks,

0:26:54.000 --> 0:26:56.320
<v Speaker 2>they just wanted to make sure they were charging me correctly.

0:26:57.880 --> 0:27:01.600
<v Speaker 2>And so I went in and we started the ultrasound.

0:27:01.760 --> 0:27:05.320
<v Speaker 2>And the difference between this ultrasound and the ones before

0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:08.879
<v Speaker 2>is ultrasounds before you have the technician next to you

0:27:09.000 --> 0:27:11.159
<v Speaker 2>and the sonogram machine, but then there's a TV in

0:27:11.240 --> 0:27:13.920
<v Speaker 2>front of you so you can see what the technician

0:27:14.040 --> 0:27:17.680
<v Speaker 2>is seeing. In this room, there was no TV. I

0:27:17.840 --> 0:27:20.800
<v Speaker 2>was just facing a brick wall, and for a moment,

0:27:20.880 --> 0:27:22.680
<v Speaker 2>I was like, why is there not a TV in here?

0:27:22.800 --> 0:27:25.440
<v Speaker 2>Because I was looking forward to seeing Miley again one

0:27:25.520 --> 0:27:28.560
<v Speaker 2>last time. But then it kind of clicked in my

0:27:28.680 --> 0:27:31.520
<v Speaker 2>head that some women may not want to see and

0:27:31.920 --> 0:27:35.480
<v Speaker 2>I understood, and so I lay there and I just

0:27:35.520 --> 0:27:38.240
<v Speaker 2>stare at the ceiling and she starts the ultrasound and

0:27:38.480 --> 0:27:42.200
<v Speaker 2>she quickly asks me when my last ultrasound was. I

0:27:42.359 --> 0:27:44.600
<v Speaker 2>told her it was about a week and three days prior,

0:27:45.600 --> 0:27:48.520
<v Speaker 2>and she was like, okay, and there was a heartbeat then,

0:27:49.440 --> 0:27:51.560
<v Speaker 2>and I said, yeah, there was a heartbeat. I went

0:27:51.600 --> 0:27:54.119
<v Speaker 2>and got it saved in a little bunny and she

0:27:54.280 --> 0:27:57.680
<v Speaker 2>was like, oh, okay, and then she was just quiet

0:27:58.440 --> 0:28:00.960
<v Speaker 2>and I looked at her. I was like, is there

0:28:01.520 --> 0:28:04.840
<v Speaker 2>not a heartbeat? And she said, no, ma'am, there's not.

0:28:07.200 --> 0:28:09.879
<v Speaker 2>And so I sat up and I looked at her

0:28:09.960 --> 0:28:13.960
<v Speaker 2>screen while she still had the wand on my stomach,

0:28:14.040 --> 0:28:17.920
<v Speaker 2>and I said, why she's not moving and she goes, no, ma'am,

0:28:18.000 --> 0:28:21.720
<v Speaker 2>she's not. And then I just it immediately hit me

0:28:22.359 --> 0:28:25.960
<v Speaker 2>and I just cried, and I cried out loud like

0:28:26.080 --> 0:28:28.320
<v Speaker 2>a mom does when she finds out that her she

0:28:28.520 --> 0:28:35.160
<v Speaker 2>just lost her child. I'm sorry, And this technician helped

0:28:35.240 --> 0:28:40.040
<v Speaker 2>me and she cried with me, and she told me,

0:28:40.160 --> 0:28:42.280
<v Speaker 2>in all the years that she's worked there, she's never

0:28:42.400 --> 0:28:47.120
<v Speaker 2>had a telewoman that her baby was already gone. And

0:28:47.240 --> 0:28:48.840
<v Speaker 2>so she looked at me and she said, I need

0:28:48.880 --> 0:28:51.040
<v Speaker 2>to go get the doctor and tell him what I found,

0:28:51.720 --> 0:28:53.760
<v Speaker 2>if you don't mind just going back to the waiting

0:28:53.840 --> 0:28:56.920
<v Speaker 2>room for a moment. So instead of going into the

0:28:56.960 --> 0:28:59.920
<v Speaker 2>waiting room, I walked out of the clinic. The clinic

0:29:00.160 --> 0:29:04.000
<v Speaker 2>was an on a sixth floor of a skyscraper, and

0:29:04.080 --> 0:29:06.360
<v Speaker 2>I walked out of the clinic into the hallway where

0:29:07.680 --> 0:29:10.920
<v Speaker 2>the elevators are, and I sat down in a corner

0:29:11.960 --> 0:29:15.360
<v Speaker 2>of that hallway and I called my husband and I

0:29:15.440 --> 0:29:17.520
<v Speaker 2>had to tell my husband over the phone that his

0:29:17.720 --> 0:29:23.760
<v Speaker 2>daughter was gone. And at the time I didn't really

0:29:23.840 --> 0:29:27.680
<v Speaker 2>think about this, but afterwards I realized that yes, I

0:29:27.880 --> 0:29:30.480
<v Speaker 2>was alone in that clinic, but I was surrounded by

0:29:30.640 --> 0:29:34.920
<v Speaker 2>nurses and doctors that were able to comfort me. My

0:29:35.120 --> 0:29:39.160
<v Speaker 2>husband was completely and utterly alone in that room at

0:29:39.200 --> 0:29:42.440
<v Speaker 2>the apartment we were at. And so I told him

0:29:42.480 --> 0:29:45.720
<v Speaker 2>that she was gone, and I heard his voice crack

0:29:45.800 --> 0:29:48.440
<v Speaker 2>and tell me that he would he would talk to

0:29:48.560 --> 0:29:50.800
<v Speaker 2>me later, that he needed to go, and so he

0:29:50.920 --> 0:29:55.400
<v Speaker 2>hung up the phone, and I called my mom because

0:29:55.440 --> 0:29:59.120
<v Speaker 2>my mom was waiting for updates, and I told her

0:29:59.160 --> 0:30:04.320
<v Speaker 2>what happened, and she said to me, Honey, I am

0:30:04.400 --> 0:30:07.480
<v Speaker 2>so sorry, but I think this is the best gift

0:30:07.600 --> 0:30:10.440
<v Speaker 2>Miley could have given you, because you went to New

0:30:10.520 --> 0:30:13.400
<v Speaker 2>York with so much doubt and so much guilt about

0:30:13.440 --> 0:30:17.240
<v Speaker 2>the decision you were making, that she took all of

0:30:17.320 --> 0:30:20.320
<v Speaker 2>that away from you. Because I did go to New

0:30:20.400 --> 0:30:23.320
<v Speaker 2>York with guilt, because I let people online get in

0:30:23.440 --> 0:30:26.440
<v Speaker 2>my head saying doctors are wrong all the time, that

0:30:26.840 --> 0:30:30.320
<v Speaker 2>their pregnancy was deemed incompatible, but their babies tend now

0:30:30.400 --> 0:30:33.120
<v Speaker 2>and doing great, and I just got in my head, like,

0:30:33.200 --> 0:30:35.240
<v Speaker 2>what if my doctor's wrong? What if I'm making the

0:30:35.320 --> 0:30:39.000
<v Speaker 2>wrong decision here? What if I'm prematurely ending her life

0:30:39.080 --> 0:30:44.120
<v Speaker 2>when she could be okay? And so my mom said

0:30:44.160 --> 0:30:46.000
<v Speaker 2>that she took all of that away from me, and

0:30:46.080 --> 0:30:49.959
<v Speaker 2>she went on her own. And it still sucked at

0:30:50.000 --> 0:30:52.480
<v Speaker 2>the time, but now I'm grateful that that happened because

0:30:52.520 --> 0:30:55.040
<v Speaker 2>I don't have to live with that guilt anymore. My

0:30:55.120 --> 0:30:59.640
<v Speaker 2>doctors were right, she wasn't compatible, and she showed us that.

0:31:01.120 --> 0:31:03.960
<v Speaker 2>So within the next light ten to fifteen minutes, I

0:31:04.080 --> 0:31:07.720
<v Speaker 2>was called back. I was called back to speak to

0:31:07.800 --> 0:31:10.960
<v Speaker 2>the doctor, and the first thing he said to me was,

0:31:11.080 --> 0:31:12.880
<v Speaker 2>I don't want you to blame yourself. I know you're

0:31:12.920 --> 0:31:16.160
<v Speaker 2>blaming yourself right now, but please know there was nothing

0:31:16.760 --> 0:31:20.720
<v Speaker 2>you could have done differently to change this outcome. But

0:31:20.840 --> 0:31:24.280
<v Speaker 2>then he continued to say, because my last confirmed fetal

0:31:24.360 --> 0:31:28.320
<v Speaker 2>heartbeat was almost two weeks ago, there's a two week

0:31:28.400 --> 0:31:30.960
<v Speaker 2>window when a fetus dies that when your body doesn't

0:31:31.000 --> 0:31:34.040
<v Speaker 2>recognize it, you're now at risk for blood cloths, infections,

0:31:34.120 --> 0:31:37.239
<v Speaker 2>and going septic. And since they can't confirm when her

0:31:37.280 --> 0:31:39.760
<v Speaker 2>heart actually stopped, they have to go off the last

0:31:39.800 --> 0:31:45.240
<v Speaker 2>fetal heart beat. And so he said that because of

0:31:45.360 --> 0:31:48.000
<v Speaker 2>that risk, I was now at a higher risk because

0:31:48.000 --> 0:31:51.040
<v Speaker 2>I was closer to that two weeks that they wanted

0:31:51.080 --> 0:31:53.880
<v Speaker 2>to push my abortion that same day instead of the

0:31:53.960 --> 0:31:57.680
<v Speaker 2>next day. So he did a pelvic exam, a quick

0:31:57.760 --> 0:32:00.480
<v Speaker 2>pelvic exam to feel my cervix, and he said that

0:32:00.520 --> 0:32:03.440
<v Speaker 2>my servix is very hard. Normally, they give you a

0:32:03.520 --> 0:32:06.240
<v Speaker 2>cervix softener to go home with and take the night before,

0:32:07.360 --> 0:32:09.840
<v Speaker 2>and he said that due to my cervix being so hard,

0:32:10.080 --> 0:32:12.680
<v Speaker 2>they're going to try, but they may not be able

0:32:12.720 --> 0:32:15.200
<v Speaker 2>to get through my cervix today and if that's the case,

0:32:15.240 --> 0:32:18.200
<v Speaker 2>they'll give me the medication and the spacers to go

0:32:18.360 --> 0:32:20.640
<v Speaker 2>home and then come back first thing the next morning.

0:32:22.080 --> 0:32:24.520
<v Speaker 2>So I was going into the surgery not knowing if

0:32:24.560 --> 0:32:28.000
<v Speaker 2>it was going to be successful or not. After he

0:32:28.120 --> 0:32:30.960
<v Speaker 2>said that it was very quick, I went and signed

0:32:31.000 --> 0:32:34.880
<v Speaker 2>paperwork for the anesthesia. I had to undress and put

0:32:34.880 --> 0:32:37.240
<v Speaker 2>a gown on, and then I was in the surgery

0:32:37.280 --> 0:32:41.120
<v Speaker 2>room and I climbed up in the bed and the

0:32:41.200 --> 0:32:44.320
<v Speaker 2>anesthesia anesthesiologist came in and told me that I was

0:32:44.360 --> 0:32:47.280
<v Speaker 2>going to go to sleep, and that's what I did,

0:32:47.560 --> 0:32:50.400
<v Speaker 2>and I woke up, not in the same room, not

0:32:50.560 --> 0:32:54.200
<v Speaker 2>in the same bed, and there was a nurse standing

0:32:54.280 --> 0:32:56.240
<v Speaker 2>next to me. And immediately when I woke up, I

0:32:56.400 --> 0:33:00.520
<v Speaker 2>felt the pain in my lower abdomen, and she said,

0:33:00.560 --> 0:33:03.160
<v Speaker 2>miss Phillips, how are you feeling? And I said, I'm

0:33:03.200 --> 0:33:07.000
<v Speaker 2>in a lot of pain and she said that is normal.

0:33:07.600 --> 0:33:09.760
<v Speaker 2>And then I cut her off and I said was

0:33:09.800 --> 0:33:14.080
<v Speaker 2>the surgery successful? She said, yes, man, the surgery was successful.

0:33:15.040 --> 0:33:18.240
<v Speaker 2>And I said, so I'm not pregnant anymore. She goes, no, ma'am,

0:33:18.280 --> 0:33:21.080
<v Speaker 2>you're not. And then of course I just started crying

0:33:21.160 --> 0:33:25.959
<v Speaker 2>again because that reality hit that I came to New

0:33:26.040 --> 0:33:30.960
<v Speaker 2>York pregnant and I was leaving I was leaving not pregnant.

0:33:34.160 --> 0:33:37.440
<v Speaker 2>When I got back home from New York. Postpartum depression

0:33:37.640 --> 0:33:40.640
<v Speaker 2>hits whether you had your baby or not, and I've

0:33:40.640 --> 0:33:43.959
<v Speaker 2>already struggled with depression since I was fourteen. I've been

0:33:44.000 --> 0:33:47.560
<v Speaker 2>on medication for it, so my mental health was already

0:33:47.880 --> 0:33:52.000
<v Speaker 2>in a rough space getting back from New York. I

0:33:52.160 --> 0:33:55.200
<v Speaker 2>ended up taking an extra week from the daycare center

0:33:55.280 --> 0:33:58.880
<v Speaker 2>I run from my home because I just couldn't function

0:33:59.040 --> 0:34:02.760
<v Speaker 2>as a person and I was struggling with suicidal thoughts.

0:34:03.040 --> 0:34:04.880
<v Speaker 2>I didn't want to be in a world without Miley

0:34:05.440 --> 0:34:08.759
<v Speaker 2>and my daycare I took care of four kids under

0:34:08.800 --> 0:34:11.239
<v Speaker 2>the age of three, so one of them being an

0:34:11.280 --> 0:34:14.400
<v Speaker 2>eight month old baby at the time, and I just

0:34:14.560 --> 0:34:17.920
<v Speaker 2>knew if I saw a young baby, it would just

0:34:18.760 --> 0:34:23.320
<v Speaker 2>kind of shove that knife in deeper. And so I

0:34:23.440 --> 0:34:30.000
<v Speaker 2>continued to share my journey on TikTok, and my grief

0:34:30.160 --> 0:34:35.240
<v Speaker 2>went from heartache to being very angry after that two weeks.

0:34:35.520 --> 0:34:38.520
<v Speaker 2>It took a very stern conversation from my mom and

0:34:38.640 --> 0:34:42.520
<v Speaker 2>husband to tell me that me sit laying in bed

0:34:42.600 --> 0:34:46.960
<v Speaker 2>isn't going to bring Miley back. Addalie was losing her mom.

0:34:47.239 --> 0:34:51.440
<v Speaker 2>I needed to get up, get myself together, and get

0:34:51.520 --> 0:34:54.200
<v Speaker 2>back into a part of life, and so I didn't

0:34:54.200 --> 0:34:57.160
<v Speaker 2>want to neglect Attalie any longer than I already was.

0:34:57.320 --> 0:35:00.279
<v Speaker 2>So I pulled myself together the best I could. But

0:35:00.360 --> 0:35:04.759
<v Speaker 2>I got very angry, and I got angry because what

0:35:04.880 --> 0:35:07.000
<v Speaker 2>I went through I shouldn't have had to gone through.

0:35:07.960 --> 0:35:10.000
<v Speaker 2>I shouldn't have had to been in a different state.

0:35:10.160 --> 0:35:13.160
<v Speaker 2>I shouldn't have had to figure out logistics to fly

0:35:13.280 --> 0:35:15.960
<v Speaker 2>to a clinic. I shouldn't have been alone when I

0:35:16.040 --> 0:35:18.480
<v Speaker 2>went through surgery and sat in recovery. I shouldn't have

0:35:18.600 --> 0:35:20.920
<v Speaker 2>had to go through any of that. I should have

0:35:20.960 --> 0:35:23.960
<v Speaker 2>been able to get a procedure here in my home

0:35:24.040 --> 0:35:26.399
<v Speaker 2>state and go home and sleep in my own bed,

0:35:26.880 --> 0:35:31.080
<v Speaker 2>surrounded by my husband and daughter. But that wasn't the case,

0:35:31.640 --> 0:35:35.320
<v Speaker 2>because male politicians think they know it's best for women.

0:35:36.680 --> 0:35:40.880
<v Speaker 2>And so I turned my anger into more vocal activism

0:35:41.840 --> 0:35:45.279
<v Speaker 2>and more of my video started gaining traction, and the

0:35:45.360 --> 0:35:48.320
<v Speaker 2>Center for Reproductive Rights had reached out to me because

0:35:48.320 --> 0:35:51.040
<v Speaker 2>they currently had a case in Texas with women, and

0:35:51.160 --> 0:35:55.240
<v Speaker 2>they asked me if i'd be interested in suing Tennessee. Yes. Immediately,

0:35:55.520 --> 0:35:58.640
<v Speaker 2>I didn't even think about my answer. I said yes

0:35:59.360 --> 0:36:05.160
<v Speaker 2>because I wanted Miley. I wanted her story to be

0:36:05.760 --> 0:36:10.640
<v Speaker 2>the change that happens. And so while I was starting

0:36:10.680 --> 0:36:13.560
<v Speaker 2>the process of being a plaintiff in a legal case,

0:36:14.360 --> 0:36:17.400
<v Speaker 2>I started thinking about what I could do on a

0:36:17.480 --> 0:36:21.000
<v Speaker 2>lower level, I just as a citizen, and so I

0:36:21.120 --> 0:36:25.160
<v Speaker 2>thought of Miley's Law. And Miley's Law essentially would just

0:36:25.200 --> 0:36:28.719
<v Speaker 2>give exceptions back to parents when diagnosed with fetal anomalies.

0:36:29.560 --> 0:36:33.040
<v Speaker 2>For me, exceptions aren't enough. But I know, being in

0:36:33.120 --> 0:36:37.719
<v Speaker 2>a majority GOP state, just banning the ban altogether wasn't

0:36:37.760 --> 0:36:40.120
<v Speaker 2>going to be possible. So I figured if I could

0:36:40.160 --> 0:36:42.840
<v Speaker 2>throw them a bone and we take some baby steps,

0:36:43.239 --> 0:36:45.560
<v Speaker 2>that that would be the best course. And so I

0:36:45.680 --> 0:36:49.080
<v Speaker 2>met with my representative on June eighth last year, and

0:36:49.160 --> 0:36:50.880
<v Speaker 2>I told him my story. We sat in a two

0:36:50.960 --> 0:36:53.480
<v Speaker 2>hour meeting. I told him my story, and I told

0:36:53.560 --> 0:36:56.120
<v Speaker 2>him my idea for Miley's Law, and I asked for

0:36:56.200 --> 0:36:59.880
<v Speaker 2>his help to create the bill. Because I've never written

0:36:59.880 --> 0:37:01.759
<v Speaker 2>a before, I have no idea how to do that,

0:37:02.560 --> 0:37:04.839
<v Speaker 2>and so I wanted his help to write that bill

0:37:04.880 --> 0:37:07.120
<v Speaker 2>and get it up to the legislature, and he said

0:37:07.160 --> 0:37:11.919
<v Speaker 2>he would help me. And during that conversation I kind

0:37:12.000 --> 0:37:16.920
<v Speaker 2>of confirmed the thoughts I already had about our male lawmakers.

0:37:17.440 --> 0:37:19.279
<v Speaker 2>I had told him that I already had a daughter

0:37:19.400 --> 0:37:22.040
<v Speaker 2>here and that this was my second pregnancy that I lost,

0:37:22.719 --> 0:37:25.440
<v Speaker 2>and he said, wait a second, and I quote this,

0:37:26.320 --> 0:37:28.920
<v Speaker 2>I'm just a man, but I only thought it was

0:37:28.960 --> 0:37:32.439
<v Speaker 2>the first pregnancy that could go bad. And I said,

0:37:32.840 --> 0:37:36.520
<v Speaker 2>first pregnancies can go bad. Any pregnancy can go bad,

0:37:36.600 --> 0:37:39.759
<v Speaker 2>though it's not just the first pregnancy. He was told

0:37:39.800 --> 0:37:42.200
<v Speaker 2>that it was just first pregnancies that go bad, and

0:37:42.239 --> 0:37:44.000
<v Speaker 2>so it didn't make sense to him when my second

0:37:44.080 --> 0:37:47.800
<v Speaker 2>pregnancy failed. On top of that, I tried to humanize

0:37:47.840 --> 0:37:49.640
<v Speaker 2>my story with him, because he made sure to tell

0:37:49.680 --> 0:37:51.719
<v Speaker 2>me that he is pro life and that I wasn't

0:37:51.760 --> 0:37:53.560
<v Speaker 2>going to make him pro choice, and I said, I'm

0:37:53.600 --> 0:37:55.319
<v Speaker 2>not trying to make you pro choice. I'm just trying

0:37:55.360 --> 0:37:57.920
<v Speaker 2>to make you understand what I went through. And he

0:37:58.040 --> 0:38:00.440
<v Speaker 2>has a daughter who's not much younger than me, twenty

0:38:00.520 --> 0:38:04.000
<v Speaker 2>five I think, and she doesn't have any children, and

0:38:04.040 --> 0:38:06.200
<v Speaker 2>so I was like, great, imagine this was her first

0:38:06.280 --> 0:38:09.120
<v Speaker 2>pregnancy and she called you and told you everything. I

0:38:09.280 --> 0:38:12.320
<v Speaker 2>just told you told you that her pregnancy wasn't viable

0:38:12.360 --> 0:38:14.200
<v Speaker 2>and that if she continued it was putting her life

0:38:14.200 --> 0:38:17.279
<v Speaker 2>at risk. What advice would you give her? And he

0:38:17.400 --> 0:38:19.040
<v Speaker 2>told me that I wasn't going to like his answer,

0:38:19.520 --> 0:38:21.800
<v Speaker 2>and I said, I want to hear it. What advice

0:38:21.840 --> 0:38:25.360
<v Speaker 2>would you give your daughter? And he said that the

0:38:25.480 --> 0:38:28.480
<v Speaker 2>way he grew up is that he would tell her

0:38:28.719 --> 0:38:32.799
<v Speaker 2>that he thinks she should continue her pregnancy. And I said,

0:38:32.960 --> 0:38:36.320
<v Speaker 2>even if it's putting her life at risk, and he

0:38:36.400 --> 0:38:39.120
<v Speaker 2>said that's just how I grew up. I said, what

0:38:39.320 --> 0:38:41.800
<v Speaker 2>happens if she gets the abortion? Are you going to disowner?

0:38:42.360 --> 0:38:44.880
<v Speaker 2>He said, I wouldn't disowner, but I wouldn't be happy

0:38:44.920 --> 0:38:48.400
<v Speaker 2>with her. And I think at that moment, it's solidified

0:38:48.440 --> 0:38:51.919
<v Speaker 2>for me that if these representatives don't even care about

0:38:51.920 --> 0:38:54.520
<v Speaker 2>their own child's wellbeing, they sure as hell don't care

0:38:54.520 --> 0:38:58.879
<v Speaker 2>about the rest of us. And so after that meeting,

0:38:58.920 --> 0:39:01.080
<v Speaker 2>I followed up with him a few times, asking where

0:39:01.120 --> 0:39:03.040
<v Speaker 2>we were, on him helping me, where we were on

0:39:03.120 --> 0:39:05.759
<v Speaker 2>these meetings, like what's next? And I kept getting the

0:39:05.800 --> 0:39:09.600
<v Speaker 2>run around, and I think it was after a month

0:39:09.680 --> 0:39:13.239
<v Speaker 2>or two roughly I messaged him one final time. I

0:39:13.280 --> 0:39:15.520
<v Speaker 2>said what are we doing? Like, are you helping me

0:39:15.680 --> 0:39:18.320
<v Speaker 2>or not? And he said that there's really nothing he

0:39:18.440 --> 0:39:21.800
<v Speaker 2>can do until the session starts back in January. And

0:39:21.880 --> 0:39:24.000
<v Speaker 2>I said, so women in Tennessee, ye are just supposed

0:39:24.000 --> 0:39:28.360
<v Speaker 2>to suffer and die until January. And he never responded

0:39:28.440 --> 0:39:32.960
<v Speaker 2>to me. And so that moment again, I was just like,

0:39:33.040 --> 0:39:35.440
<v Speaker 2>you know what, I'm not going to sit around and

0:39:35.520 --> 0:39:38.120
<v Speaker 2>wait for a man to help me do anything. I'm

0:39:38.120 --> 0:39:41.320
<v Speaker 2>going to do it myself. And that's when people started

0:39:41.360 --> 0:39:44.640
<v Speaker 2>telling me I should run for office. Now, being a

0:39:44.719 --> 0:39:49.759
<v Speaker 2>politician or being an elected official in any capacity was

0:39:49.960 --> 0:39:52.359
<v Speaker 2>never something I thought I would do in my life.

0:39:52.640 --> 0:39:55.120
<v Speaker 2>I went to school for journalism. I wanted to be

0:39:55.239 --> 0:39:59.040
<v Speaker 2>a reporter. I wanted to write stories. That's my calling,

0:39:59.200 --> 0:40:04.520
<v Speaker 2>I thought, And so people started to My mom was

0:40:04.560 --> 0:40:06.239
<v Speaker 2>the first one to susjust it. And I was like,

0:40:06.360 --> 0:40:09.520
<v Speaker 2>you're crazy and she was like, no, but actually, like

0:40:09.640 --> 0:40:12.600
<v Speaker 2>you have the passion, You're very well spoken, you have

0:40:12.760 --> 0:40:16.400
<v Speaker 2>the heart, You're very relatable, and people listen to you.

0:40:16.760 --> 0:40:19.360
<v Speaker 2>You already have the following and the platform. She's like

0:40:19.400 --> 0:40:23.799
<v Speaker 2>why not. It's like why would I? I personally don't

0:40:23.920 --> 0:40:26.600
<v Speaker 2>like politics. The most I've ever done with politics is

0:40:26.640 --> 0:40:28.279
<v Speaker 2>go out and vote, and I thought I was doing

0:40:28.320 --> 0:40:33.080
<v Speaker 2>my due diligence, but more and more people started coming

0:40:33.200 --> 0:40:36.080
<v Speaker 2>up to me and saying, have you ever thought about

0:40:36.120 --> 0:40:38.520
<v Speaker 2>running for office? You should really think about running for office?

0:40:39.000 --> 0:40:40.719
<v Speaker 2>Like what is wrong with you? Like? Do you guys

0:40:40.800 --> 0:40:42.839
<v Speaker 2>just not have anybody else to run? Is that what's

0:40:42.880 --> 0:40:46.680
<v Speaker 2>going on here? And I will say there wasn't like

0:40:46.760 --> 0:40:49.560
<v Speaker 2>an aha moment for me. It was kind of I

0:40:49.680 --> 0:40:54.520
<v Speaker 2>was building this tier and with every layer gave me

0:40:54.600 --> 0:40:58.920
<v Speaker 2>another reason to decide to run for office. These reasons

0:40:59.000 --> 0:41:01.160
<v Speaker 2>being as I was on TikTok, I would also share

0:41:01.239 --> 0:41:06.200
<v Speaker 2>other women's stories from Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Idaho, people other

0:41:06.320 --> 0:41:08.880
<v Speaker 2>women having to flee their states, are being denied abortion

0:41:09.000 --> 0:41:11.400
<v Speaker 2>access in their states. And it was the ten year

0:41:11.400 --> 0:41:14.680
<v Speaker 2>old girl who was raped and had to go across

0:41:14.840 --> 0:41:17.920
<v Speaker 2>state lines to get an abortion that really hit me.

0:41:18.040 --> 0:41:20.240
<v Speaker 2>And I was like, my daughter now at that point

0:41:20.360 --> 0:41:23.840
<v Speaker 2>was six, she's very close to that age. I know

0:41:23.960 --> 0:41:26.560
<v Speaker 2>what I went through as a twenty eight year old woman.

0:41:27.200 --> 0:41:30.880
<v Speaker 2>I could not imagine the trauma and the damage that

0:41:31.000 --> 0:41:34.360
<v Speaker 2>does to a ten year old girl. And that was

0:41:34.520 --> 0:41:37.960
<v Speaker 2>the biggest slab for me was to be like Okay,

0:41:38.280 --> 0:41:41.279
<v Speaker 2>you know what, I'm going to consider it. And then

0:41:41.320 --> 0:41:44.320
<v Speaker 2>it came into there's other things that I care about

0:41:44.760 --> 0:41:47.120
<v Speaker 2>my daughter, like I said before, as autistics, so she

0:41:47.200 --> 0:41:50.960
<v Speaker 2>has an IEP in her school, she's special needs. She's

0:41:51.000 --> 0:41:53.640
<v Speaker 2>in a public school. Our state is currently trying to

0:41:54.200 --> 0:41:57.920
<v Speaker 2>implement a voucher program that would take public school funding

0:41:58.239 --> 0:42:00.920
<v Speaker 2>and put it into private schools. Or her public schools

0:42:00.920 --> 0:42:03.359
<v Speaker 2>are already underfunded and we need to take away more

0:42:03.440 --> 0:42:07.480
<v Speaker 2>funding that takes away these things like IEP assistants and

0:42:07.560 --> 0:42:10.440
<v Speaker 2>these resources for kids that have disabilities. So it's like,

0:42:10.520 --> 0:42:12.880
<v Speaker 2>that's going to affect my daughter, That's going to affect

0:42:12.960 --> 0:42:15.200
<v Speaker 2>my life. And then the fact that my six year

0:42:15.200 --> 0:42:17.360
<v Speaker 2>old is scared to go to school some days because

0:42:17.360 --> 0:42:19.920
<v Speaker 2>she does these active shooter drills, and the fact that

0:42:20.040 --> 0:42:22.080
<v Speaker 2>I'm scared she's not going to come home some days.

0:42:22.360 --> 0:42:24.600
<v Speaker 2>I try to remember what clothes she's wearing. I don't

0:42:24.640 --> 0:42:26.600
<v Speaker 2>buy her light up shoes because I don't want her

0:42:26.640 --> 0:42:28.920
<v Speaker 2>to be seen in a dark room. These are very

0:42:29.000 --> 0:42:32.400
<v Speaker 2>real things that American moms have to worry about. And

0:42:32.480 --> 0:42:35.320
<v Speaker 2>then I realized I run an in home daycare for

0:42:35.440 --> 0:42:37.400
<v Speaker 2>the simple fact that I know how hard it is

0:42:37.480 --> 0:42:39.880
<v Speaker 2>to pay for daycare as a single mom, because I

0:42:40.000 --> 0:42:43.719
<v Speaker 2>did it for three years. And there are so many

0:42:43.800 --> 0:42:46.719
<v Speaker 2>more things. I didn't get a maternity leave. I took

0:42:46.800 --> 0:42:49.959
<v Speaker 2>two weeks off of work when I had Adelie to heal.

0:42:50.560 --> 0:42:52.279
<v Speaker 2>I didn't get paid for those two weeks. Those were

0:42:52.320 --> 0:42:54.520
<v Speaker 2>two weeks unpaid. And then I went back to work

0:42:54.560 --> 0:42:56.719
<v Speaker 2>when she was two weeks old. And so I was like,

0:42:56.800 --> 0:42:59.840
<v Speaker 2>there are so many things that I just kind of

0:43:00.080 --> 0:43:03.480
<v Speaker 2>lived through and accept it because it is what it is.

0:43:03.600 --> 0:43:06.000
<v Speaker 2>What am I going to do to change it? And

0:43:06.040 --> 0:43:09.279
<v Speaker 2>then that's when I really started to accept that what

0:43:09.560 --> 0:43:12.600
<v Speaker 2>our state is doing to women, families, and children is

0:43:12.719 --> 0:43:16.319
<v Speaker 2>so far beyond unacceptable. Then I can't just sit here

0:43:16.520 --> 0:43:19.080
<v Speaker 2>and complain on TikTok anymore. I can't just sit here

0:43:19.480 --> 0:43:22.200
<v Speaker 2>and vote for the blue guy anymore. I have got

0:43:22.320 --> 0:43:29.399
<v Speaker 2>to be in one of those seats making decisions when

0:43:29.440 --> 0:43:29.920
<v Speaker 2>we come back.

0:43:29.960 --> 0:43:33.520
<v Speaker 1>Ali breaks down her campaign strategy and share some of

0:43:33.560 --> 0:43:35.920
<v Speaker 1>the reactions she's getting from voters.

0:43:51.239 --> 0:43:56.240
<v Speaker 2>I actually announced earlier than what many people did because

0:43:56.480 --> 0:44:00.440
<v Speaker 2>my opponent is very wealthy and consulf on his own campaign.

0:44:00.760 --> 0:44:02.520
<v Speaker 2>I wanted to make sure I had enough time to

0:44:02.640 --> 0:44:05.680
<v Speaker 2>fundraise as much as I could, so I announced over

0:44:05.760 --> 0:44:09.279
<v Speaker 2>a year before the election, so majority of what I've

0:44:09.320 --> 0:44:13.400
<v Speaker 2>been doing has solely been online. I posted my campaign

0:44:13.480 --> 0:44:16.640
<v Speaker 2>launch video, and I've been doing interviews like this that

0:44:16.880 --> 0:44:19.680
<v Speaker 2>talks about my campaign and my story, and we have

0:44:20.440 --> 0:44:24.120
<v Speaker 2>it's public now. But we have raised over ninety thousand

0:44:24.160 --> 0:44:26.760
<v Speaker 2>dollars in the first like two and a half three months,

0:44:26.840 --> 0:44:30.160
<v Speaker 2>which is crazy for a small local election for somebody

0:44:30.200 --> 0:44:33.560
<v Speaker 2>that's never ran for office before. Now that we're in January,

0:44:33.920 --> 0:44:36.839
<v Speaker 2>I have done community events. I've done fundraisers. I've been

0:44:36.880 --> 0:44:40.680
<v Speaker 2>to other people's fundraisers. I've been to community meetings and

0:44:40.760 --> 0:44:43.040
<v Speaker 2>things like that, school board meetings. I just went to

0:44:43.120 --> 0:44:45.800
<v Speaker 2>a teacher union meeting last night and heard their concerns.

0:44:46.000 --> 0:44:48.200
<v Speaker 2>But now that we're in January and actually in the

0:44:48.280 --> 0:44:53.200
<v Speaker 2>election year, now I'm going in like feet on the ground.

0:44:53.520 --> 0:44:56.680
<v Speaker 2>I pulled my petition I think in a week or

0:44:56.719 --> 0:44:59.200
<v Speaker 2>two and I'll be going and knocking on doors to

0:44:59.239 --> 0:45:02.240
<v Speaker 2>get signatures so I can officially be on the ballot.

0:45:02.280 --> 0:45:05.279
<v Speaker 2>And so I'm going to be posting round table discussions

0:45:05.320 --> 0:45:08.960
<v Speaker 2>with different community organizations in my area and asking them

0:45:09.600 --> 0:45:12.480
<v Speaker 2>what is it that using needs to be improved, What

0:45:12.640 --> 0:45:15.440
<v Speaker 2>is it that you're concerned about I'm taking my story

0:45:15.840 --> 0:45:18.319
<v Speaker 2>and putting it on the back burner. My story's been

0:45:18.360 --> 0:45:21.319
<v Speaker 2>told enough. Now I want to hear from them. One

0:45:21.360 --> 0:45:23.800
<v Speaker 2>of the things that just recently came out on Wednesday

0:45:23.840 --> 0:45:26.640
<v Speaker 2>from the Journal of American Medicine was that there are

0:45:26.840 --> 0:45:32.120
<v Speaker 2>around sixty five thousand women and girls with rape related pregnancies.

0:45:32.440 --> 0:45:35.160
<v Speaker 2>And these are just coming from the fourteen states that

0:45:35.400 --> 0:45:39.600
<v Speaker 2>have a ban or a restriction on abortion access. And

0:45:39.719 --> 0:45:42.640
<v Speaker 2>these are the women and girls that have reported it.

0:45:43.160 --> 0:45:47.680
<v Speaker 2>So how many are unreported? How many have just gone unnoticed,

0:45:48.000 --> 0:45:50.640
<v Speaker 2>And so I think that brings a new light and

0:45:50.760 --> 0:45:54.440
<v Speaker 2>a new fact to people that say, oh, rape related

0:45:55.160 --> 0:45:59.120
<v Speaker 2>abortions are so rare, they don't happen that often. Sixty

0:45:59.239 --> 0:46:03.680
<v Speaker 2>five thousand women and girls have come forward just within

0:46:03.840 --> 0:46:07.920
<v Speaker 2>the last year or so since Roe was overturned. The

0:46:08.040 --> 0:46:10.920
<v Speaker 2>thing with the argument of it being birth control is

0:46:11.239 --> 0:46:14.120
<v Speaker 2>for some women, it may be it may be that

0:46:14.239 --> 0:46:17.920
<v Speaker 2>they accidentally got pregnant or you know, took precautions to

0:46:18.000 --> 0:46:20.000
<v Speaker 2>not get pregnant, but they still ended up pregnant and

0:46:20.120 --> 0:46:22.360
<v Speaker 2>they don't want to be pregnant, and so yeah, it

0:46:22.440 --> 0:46:24.719
<v Speaker 2>could be used as a form of birth control for

0:46:24.880 --> 0:46:29.160
<v Speaker 2>some women. But to ban a life saving procedure for

0:46:29.480 --> 0:46:32.880
<v Speaker 2>the woman who is going septic and bleeding out because

0:46:32.920 --> 0:46:34.800
<v Speaker 2>you don't want your neighbor to go get an abortion

0:46:34.920 --> 0:46:36.920
<v Speaker 2>because she accidentally got pregnant doesn't make a whole lot

0:46:36.960 --> 0:46:39.600
<v Speaker 2>of sense. The thing with abortion that people need to

0:46:39.680 --> 0:46:43.640
<v Speaker 2>understand is it is a medical procedure, whether that fetus

0:46:43.760 --> 0:46:46.160
<v Speaker 2>is dead or alive. I've had so many people in

0:46:46.280 --> 0:46:49.359
<v Speaker 2>my comments telling me, well, your baby died, you didn't

0:46:49.400 --> 0:46:51.840
<v Speaker 2>get an abortion, she was already dead, And I'm like,

0:46:51.920 --> 0:46:56.840
<v Speaker 2>that is such an illogical explanation of what an abortion is.

0:46:57.440 --> 0:47:00.160
<v Speaker 2>The abortion is literally the procedure the removal of the

0:47:00.200 --> 0:47:04.719
<v Speaker 2>feudal tissue. So when I have to tell people, no,

0:47:05.320 --> 0:47:08.160
<v Speaker 2>I still had an abortion, it doesn't matter that she

0:47:08.360 --> 0:47:10.239
<v Speaker 2>was dead, it doesn't matter if they're alive. It is

0:47:10.360 --> 0:47:14.560
<v Speaker 2>still the same process. Some people listen, some people don't.

0:47:15.320 --> 0:47:18.480
<v Speaker 2>But another way I try to humanize it to people

0:47:18.760 --> 0:47:22.600
<v Speaker 2>is we can't pick and choose who gets healthcare and win.

0:47:23.160 --> 0:47:27.040
<v Speaker 2>For example, if you have two patients that are diagnosed

0:47:27.080 --> 0:47:30.160
<v Speaker 2>with cancer, one of them being Stage one, one of

0:47:30.200 --> 0:47:32.520
<v Speaker 2>them being a stage four, you don't get to look

0:47:32.560 --> 0:47:36.319
<v Speaker 2>at the stage one patient and say you're not sick enough,

0:47:36.360 --> 0:47:38.960
<v Speaker 2>We're not going to let you have chemo, but then

0:47:39.120 --> 0:47:42.480
<v Speaker 2>give the stage four patient chemo, because now you're just

0:47:42.560 --> 0:47:45.920
<v Speaker 2>taking away that stage one patient their ability to get

0:47:46.000 --> 0:47:49.520
<v Speaker 2>healthcare and preserve their health. We want to be proactive

0:47:50.440 --> 0:47:55.000
<v Speaker 2>and not reactive. But the whole point of choice isn't

0:47:55.040 --> 0:47:58.799
<v Speaker 2>being pro abortion. That's something that I tell I tell

0:47:58.840 --> 0:48:01.560
<v Speaker 2>people all the time. Could be pro choice without being

0:48:01.640 --> 0:48:08.319
<v Speaker 2>pro abortion. Being pro choice is literally supporting women having

0:48:08.360 --> 0:48:11.279
<v Speaker 2>the right to choose, whether that be they need an

0:48:11.280 --> 0:48:13.719
<v Speaker 2>abortion or want an abortion, whether that be they want

0:48:13.760 --> 0:48:16.000
<v Speaker 2>to have the baby and keep it, or whether that

0:48:16.120 --> 0:48:18.640
<v Speaker 2>be they want to put it up for adoption. It's

0:48:18.719 --> 0:48:21.759
<v Speaker 2>whatever works best for that woman that you support their

0:48:21.840 --> 0:48:24.759
<v Speaker 2>right to choose. And when you take away that right,

0:48:25.160 --> 0:48:27.840
<v Speaker 2>you start seeing things like women dying, You start seeing

0:48:28.000 --> 0:48:32.520
<v Speaker 2>things like rape increasing because there's there's no penalty, because

0:48:32.880 --> 0:48:35.560
<v Speaker 2>how many convictions actually have happened from those sixty five

0:48:35.640 --> 0:48:39.760
<v Speaker 2>thousand rapes that were recorded. How many That's the problem

0:48:39.840 --> 0:48:43.120
<v Speaker 2>we face as women as well, is coming forward when

0:48:43.160 --> 0:48:47.000
<v Speaker 2>we are raped and being believed. This has become so

0:48:47.200 --> 0:48:50.359
<v Speaker 2>important to me because I am a mom, and as

0:48:50.400 --> 0:48:53.360
<v Speaker 2>a mom, it's my job to protect my children, and

0:48:54.200 --> 0:48:56.400
<v Speaker 2>my daughter is growing up in this state and she

0:48:56.560 --> 0:48:59.040
<v Speaker 2>may raise her own family in this state, and it's

0:48:59.080 --> 0:49:01.560
<v Speaker 2>my job to make sure that she's protected and cared for.

0:49:02.200 --> 0:49:04.960
<v Speaker 2>And so running for office, I don't know if I'm

0:49:05.000 --> 0:49:06.920
<v Speaker 2>going to win my election. I hope I do, but

0:49:07.880 --> 0:49:11.800
<v Speaker 2>showing her that just because something is doesn't mean it

0:49:11.880 --> 0:49:14.480
<v Speaker 2>has to be. If you know in your heart that

0:49:14.640 --> 0:49:17.560
<v Speaker 2>something is wrong and it's hurting people, you have the

0:49:17.680 --> 0:49:19.840
<v Speaker 2>right to stand up and speak out. And so I

0:49:20.040 --> 0:49:22.920
<v Speaker 2>hope I'm leaving a legacy for my daughter to be

0:49:23.640 --> 0:49:27.080
<v Speaker 2>active and be loud about the things she cares about

0:49:27.160 --> 0:49:29.080
<v Speaker 2>and to never give up no matter how many people

0:49:29.200 --> 0:49:31.840
<v Speaker 2>try to tear her down. The fact that I'm making

0:49:31.960 --> 0:49:34.320
<v Speaker 2>so many people mad on the other side tells me

0:49:34.360 --> 0:49:37.719
<v Speaker 2>I'm doing something right. So this is important for me now.

0:49:38.200 --> 0:49:40.360
<v Speaker 2>I feel like this is my purpose to keep Miley's

0:49:40.400 --> 0:49:43.680
<v Speaker 2>name alive and to push Miley's Law, and to just

0:49:43.800 --> 0:49:48.560
<v Speaker 2>push the fact that abortions are healthcare no matter how

0:49:48.640 --> 0:49:51.000
<v Speaker 2>you look at it, and to normalize the word abortion.

0:49:51.400 --> 0:49:53.400
<v Speaker 2>The stigma that's been on it has been on it

0:49:53.560 --> 0:49:55.879
<v Speaker 2>far too long, and I just want to make sure

0:49:55.960 --> 0:49:58.920
<v Speaker 2>that women and children across this state and across this

0:49:59.040 --> 0:50:03.919
<v Speaker 2>country are not being attacked and having rights taken away

0:50:03.920 --> 0:50:06.320
<v Speaker 2>because at this point we feel like second class citizens

0:50:06.640 --> 0:50:08.960
<v Speaker 2>and it's not okay. It's not okay, But I just

0:50:09.080 --> 0:50:11.560
<v Speaker 2>hope that it's enough, and if it's not, I'm going

0:50:11.640 --> 0:50:12.680
<v Speaker 2>to keep fighting until it is.

0:50:19.920 --> 0:50:23.080
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening everyone. If you have a question for me,

0:50:23.520 --> 0:50:26.000
<v Speaker 1>a subject you want us to cover, or you want

0:50:26.040 --> 0:50:29.319
<v Speaker 1>to share your thoughts about how you navigate this crazy world,

0:50:29.760 --> 0:50:32.680
<v Speaker 1>reach out. You can leave a short message at six

0:50:32.840 --> 0:50:35.839
<v Speaker 1>h nine five point two five to five oh five,

0:50:36.239 --> 0:50:38.680
<v Speaker 1>or you can send me a DM on Instagram. I

0:50:38.719 --> 0:50:41.640
<v Speaker 1>would love to hear from you. Next Question is a

0:50:41.680 --> 0:50:46.440
<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia and Katie Kuric Media. The executive producers

0:50:46.440 --> 0:50:50.600
<v Speaker 1>are Me, Katie Kuric, and Courtney Ltz. Our supervising producer

0:50:50.800 --> 0:50:54.920
<v Speaker 1>is Ryan Martz, and our producers are Adriana Fazzio and

0:50:55.080 --> 0:51:00.400
<v Speaker 1>Meredith Barnes. Julian Weller composed our theme music. For more

0:51:00.480 --> 0:51:04.000
<v Speaker 1>information about today's episode, or to sign up for my newsletter,

0:51:04.200 --> 0:51:07.160
<v Speaker 1>wake Up Call, go to the description in the podcast

0:51:07.239 --> 0:51:10.799
<v Speaker 1>app or visit us at Katiecuric dot com. You can

0:51:10.840 --> 0:51:14.320
<v Speaker 1>also find me on Instagram and all my social media channels.

0:51:14.920 --> 0:51:20.319
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.