Zajano: Exeter Doctor, Mom Speaks Out About Her Life Saving Abortions

By Emily Zajano, InDepth NH

As a physician, I have dedicated my entire adult life to saving children’s lives. But I couldnot save my own daughters.In 2013, my husband and I were thrilled to find out we were pregnant. As we walked intothe ultrasound room for our first scan at 12 weeks, I joked that we needed to make surethere was only one in there. I still remember the look on my husband’s face when theultrasound image revealed two fetuses. He had to sit down, but once the shock wore off,we were both elated. I felt like we had won the lottery.The ultrasound showed our twin girls were healthy, but it also showed I had a uterineanomaly–the twins were in two separate parts of my uterus. We had a nervous twoweeks as we endured additional testing but the initial prognosis was good. We were toldto expect preemies, and a very strange C-section, but we allowed ourselves to startthinking of names and nursery decor. We were happy and hopeful and as my bumpstarted showing we started sharing the news.But on March 11–at sixteen weeks, four days gestation–I woke up in extreme pain.Nothing made it better. It hurt just to breathe.An ultrasound showed my beautiful, playful daughters. Their heartbeats were strong.They were fine. But there was bleeding in my abdomen. As a doctor, I knew this meantmy babies and I were not safe.I was transferred to a Boston hospital. My husband and I sat in a basement radiologyroom. The big monitor screens were turned off. This would not be a happy scan.My placenta had ruptured through one twin’s uterine wall, hemorrhaging with each of myheartbeats. My daughter was developmentally healthy but my womb was literally broken.She had no chance of survival. The scan also revealed the other twin had a congenitalheart defect that required surgery to survive – if we could make it to viability. But itbecame clear I would likely not survive continuing this pregnancy.I was facing the loss of my daughters. My husband was facing the loss of his daughtersand his wife. I needed to survive.That day, and two weeks later, two abortion procedures were performed that saved mylife and preserved half of my uterus.My abortions saved my life, allowed me to later have two healthy children, and allowed me to continue my work – to save your children’s lives.Unfortunately, the expert medical care I received is now in jeopardy.Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year, anti-abortionpoliticians across the country have acted swiftly, state by state, to cut off access to safe,legal abortion for more than a third of American women. Now CongressionalRepublicans have introduced a federal 15 week abortion ban. For people in situationslike mine, medical professionals are second guessing what conditions constitute medicalemergencies and life-saving necessity with the threat of criminal penalties and costlyfines hanging over their heads.New Hampshire’s first abortion ban in modern history also took effect this year. At first,the ban on procedures at or after 24 weeks only had a very limited exception for the lifeof the mother but after tireless advocacy from families like ours, lawmakers added anexception for fatal fetal diagnoses when a fetus has no chance of survival outside thewomb.Those of us who have been pregnant know that no pregnancy is the same – andpregnancy doesn’t always go as planned. When the unimaginable happens, familiesneed support and options – not arbitrary laws.Abortion rights are on the ballot this November. It is essential we elect leaders at everylevel of government who respect bodily autonomy and will fight to ensure everyone hasaccess to the health care they need without government interference.New Hampshire can trust Tom Sherman, Maggie Hassan, Annie Kuster, and ChrisPappas to stand up for our reproductive freedom – in Congress and in Concord –because they have proven track records. And I urge you to research your localcandidates for the Executive Council and state legislature, too. As the only state in New England without protections for reproductive rights, the future of access to abortion – and even birth control – depends upon who we elect to represent us at the State House.The anger, fear, and sadness many of us have felt since Roe v. Wade was overturned isunderstandable. But we cannot be complacent. We must take our emotions, our energy,and our hope to the ballot box on November 8 and elect candidates who will fight for us –no matter what.

Dr. Emily Zajano is a pediatric emergency physician and mom who lives in Exeter.

This story was originally published by InDepth NH.