Sharing stories: A Wisconsin mom on the state abortion law that nearly cost her her life

Laurel Marcinkus, 30, is a mom, a motivational speaker, and a disability and reproductive rights advocate. She lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with her husband and 4-year-old son. 

In July of 2022, Marcinkus became pregnant with her second child, just a month after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion. In September, during her first trimester, she was diagnosed with a blood clot in her uterus, which her doctors told her was fairly routine and would likely resolve on its own. 

Marcinkus lives with several chronic health conditions that make pregnancies high risk for her. She was born with cerebral palsy and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and she has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a connective tissue disorder. 

Between her 20th and 21st weeks of pregnancy, the blood clot in Marcinkus’ uterus caused her water to break and a placental abruption, a condition that occurs when the placenta tears away from the wall of the uterus. 

Since Roe had been overturned, at the time state law was interpreted as banning abortion except in cases in which the life of the pregnant person was at risk. 

Even though Marcinkus’ life was in danger, her fetus still had a heartbeat, and, according to Wisconsin law, the pregnancy could not be terminated without multiple exams to prove that, without a doubt, Marcinkus would die if labor was not induced. Fetuses born at 21 weeks have a very slim chance of survival. 

Her doctors told Marcinkus that labor would need to be induced immediately to save her life, but because of the restrictions, she would have to have her condition confirmed first by two doctors and two separate ultrasounds. 

“That’s just one of the many reasons why, even in states where the life of the mother is taken into consideration, it’s one of the many reasons why it’s so dangerous. And I think a lot of people don’t realize,” Marcinkus told the Wisconsin Independent.

Marcinkus said that her water broke at around 6 or 7 p.m., but that labor was not induced until the next day, roughly 24 hours after she was admitted to the hospital. 

Kristin Lyerly, an obstetrician and gynecologist based in Wisconsin, told the Wisconsin Independent it is part of the standard of care to offer a termination to someone whose water has broken that early in pregnancy. 

Marcinkus said, “I think it’s just absolutely ridiculous, when someone’s laying there dying, expecting them to go through a second evaluation and be coherent after they’ve been bleeding and they’re getting sicker and they’ve been told that their baby’s going to die, you know, ideally, I don’t think that second evaluation was necessary.” 

Even though abortion was declared legal in Wisconsin in September 2023, Lyerly said, some hospitals are still requiring patients who need an abortion later in pregnancy to have two doctors sign off on the procedure. 

“Everybody’s so afraid to put their name on a chart related to an abortion because they don’t want to go to jail,” Lyerly said.

Marcinkus said that Ember Rose, the name she and her husband gave their daughter, who died in her arms two hours after the birth, is symbolic: “Something that I think is important that I always share when I can is Ember and the meaning of her name. So an ember in a dwindling fire, it’s the last lone flame that refuses to burn out. And so for me, that has always been a symbol of hope and a symbol of hope in darkness, of resilience, of faith and hope and not giving up,” she said. “When I say ember, I don’t just mean my daughter, even though I do mean her, but I mean the universal meaning of that, and I think it’s more important now than ever because I just feel — almost feels like this whole resistance is the ember. And so I just always tell people, carry the ember with you.” 

“I’m speaking out because I don’t want this to happen to anybody,” Marcinkus said. “I don’t want this to continue to happen to women all over the country. I don’t think that I’d be able to sleep at night if I didn’t stand up for it and if I didn’t try to educate people so that I could try to help prevent this from happening.”