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Danielle Spry holds her daughter Charlotte's urn in her hands Oct. 12, 2024, in Plainfield, Indiana. Danielle decided to terminate her pregnancy after learning her daughter had serious health complications.
Danielle sits in her home next to her basket for Charlotte. When Indiana government officials met to discuss the future of abortion in Indiana, Danielle told them about her daughter.
Taylor Gardner, 31, sits in her preschool classroom Oct. 12, 2024, in Indianapolis. After getting pregnant with an intrauterine device, Taylor had an abortion on May 10, 2023.
Reverend Sarah Renfro sits in her office Oct. 15, 2024, in Fishers, Indiana. She chose to have two abortions: one at 19 and another at 27.
After their abortions, 3 Indiana women hope election will restore rights By Natalie Fitzgibbons
natfitzg@iu.edu | @NatalieFitz9
Editor’s note: This story includes mention of potentially triggering situations including abortion, abuse and sexual abuse. Danielle Spry, a nurse, held her daughter against her chest for the first and last time in a hospital bed. She had a dilation and evacuation — a type of abortion — due to serious health complications with her daughter, Charlotte. She was 21 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Taylor Gardner, a preschool teacher, always wanted kids — specifically two. She grew up with one younger brother, who she adored since he was born. She babysat and tutored children and went to college for early childhood education. But when she became pregnant with a third, she wasn’t ready. Sarah Renfro, a reverend, visited a reproductive healthcare clinic for the first time when she was a preteen. Her mother took her there to educate her on the menstrual cycle. She revisited the clinic twice more — once when she was 19 and once when she was 27 — each time for an abortion. Abortion rights came under fire after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its nearly 50-year-old decision Roe v. Wade in 2022. The initial ruling protected abortion access constitutionally
through at least the first trimester, but the overturned decision now allows states to create laws prohibiting abortion at any stage. Indiana enacted a neartotal abortion ban Aug. 2023, relenting only in cases of rape or incest up to 10 weeks, or severe risk to the mother or fetus up to 20. Mifepristone, a pill that stops the growth of a pregnancy, cannot be used after eight weeks. Abortions cannot be administered by reproductive healthcare clinics. Three central Indiana women told the Indiana Daily Student of their experiences seeking and obtaining abortions before Indiana’s current restriction took effect. All three women emphasized the importance of having bodily autonomy. All three intend to vote for Kamala Harris to be the next president. *** Danielle, 38, woke up from anesthesia Nov. 21, 2019, in the operating room to the sound of her nurse’s voice asking someone for a hat. The doctor who performed the procedure followed as she was wheeled back to her room and handed Danielle her daughter. Dressed in a white hat with a pink bow and wrapped in a white blanket with pink and blue stripes, Charlotte weighed less than a pound.
The doctor instructed Danielle and her husband not to open the blanket — just to hold her. A dilation and evacuation procedure can lead to the fetus being disfigured. “She’s so beautiful,” Danielle told her husband. “She’s just perfect.” Danielle still remembers the smell of the cleaning solution from the labor and delivery floor, how the sound of life around her faded into the background like static. For her, time stopped. But everything else around her continued. Danielle counted each of her daughter’s ten toes, which stuck out from the blanket. She held Charlotte until she was ready to say goodbye. “I’m really, really sorry,” Danielle told her. Danielle spoke to the Indiana Senate and House of Representatives following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. She told them about Charlotte. The day she spoke to the House, she remembers waiting in line in the courtroom. She could hear protesters and counterprotesters outside the statehouse. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears. Then it was her turn. She had two minutes. Two minutes to convince the legislators that the right to choose matters. Before, during and after her testimony, Danielle heard counterprotesters yelling abortion is murder. She
remembers thinking, “you just don’t know.” *** The overturning of Roe v. Wade was the loss of a human right, Indiana obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Caitlin Bernard said. States having their own individual abortion laws creates confusion surrounding what medical providers can do and what patients can receive. Many state laws do not define in detail the legality of abortions. In Indiana, for instance, abortions are permitted in cases when pregnancy poses serious health risks to the mother. “When a pregnancy is health- and life-threatening, how sick does somebody have to be?” Bernard said. “How much blood do they have to lose? How infected do they have to be? These are the things nobody has defined.” Bernard became a target for many Indiana lawmakers in 2022 after the Indianapolis Star reported she performed an abortion on an Ohio 10-year-old who was raped. Bernard told the Star about the girl being forced to travel to Indiana to receive an abortion due to Ohio’s strict abortion laws. The story broke just a week after Roe v. Wade was overturned, but before Indiana’s abortion ban went into effect. At the time, Indiana permitted abortions up to 22 weeks into a pregnancy.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita launched an investigation into Bernard, an IU Health employee, for violating HIPAA patient privacy rights by speaking about a case to the media and failing to report a case of abuse. He also filed a lawsuit against IU Health for failing to protect a patient’s privacy. Rokita and many conservative pundits and politicians accused Bernard of falsifying the story. But the crime’s perpetrator was later identified, proving Bernard’s testimony to be true. The Indiana Supreme Court disciplined Rokita for referring to Bernard as an “abortion activist acting as a doctor, with a history of failing to report." The Indiana Licensing Board issued her a $3,000 fine after finding that she did violate privacy laws by speaking to a reporter about the case. However, the board unanimously decided Bernard followed abuse reporting protocol, and the abuse was reported immediately. Rokita dropped the lawsuit against IU Health on Aug. 7, 2024. Bernard rejects the idea that there is a dichotomy between “pro-life” and “prochoice.” “I’m an OB-GYN. I deliver babies every day,” Bernard said. “There’s nothing about me that is not pro-life.” Many lawmakers don’t fully grasp the potential consequences and risks of unwanted pregnancies, Bernard said. A forced pregnan-
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cy can negatively affect one’s mental and physical health. It can also make it difficult to receive an education or income. “You can’t just snap your fingers and create a support system for people,” Bernard said. “For many people it just doesn’t exist, it’s a not a reality for their life.” *** Danielle found out Charlotte was a girl after genetic blood tests in her 10th week of pregnancy. The tests showed that Charlotte had no genetic diseases. It was almost false hope, Danielle said. She was already envisioning Charlotte’s first birthday, picturing the little sister to her first-born son. Her 20-week anatomy scan told a different story. It revealed Charlotte had a congenital diaphragmatic hernia — a hole in the diaphragm. Her abdominal organs had moved into her chest cavity and her lungs were undeveloped. Charlotte’s best-case scenario would have been being placed on a ventilator, long-term feeding tube and ECMO — a form of life support. Charlotte’s most likely scenario was suffocating at birth. Danielle reached out to a friend, an obstetrician, for a second opinion and advice. “Are you considering termination?” they asked. SEE ABORTION, PAGE 4
SOURCE: JOSHUA ELMS | JMELMS@IU.EDU GRAPHICS BY: ALAYNA WILKENING
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