This testimony is among the “friend of the court” briefs—submitted by a collection of nearly 200 organizations and more than 700 individuals—that represent a united front against medically unnecessary abortion restrictions that undermine the U. S. constitutional right to access abortion.
C. Julie Bindeman
Julie, a clinical psychologist, grew up in Washington, D.C. She earned her undergraduate degree from Bard College and her doctoral degree from George Washington University.
Julie and her husband wanted two or three children. They were delighted when she gave birth to their son. In 2009, when Julie arrived at the second trimester of her second pregnancy, she began informing people and making plans for the arrival of another child. But her 20-week anatomy scan revealed a severe problem with the fetus’s brain formation. The maternal fetal medicine specialist and several other professionals explained there was a significant possibility the fetus would not survive to term. In the best-case scenario, the baby would never exceed the development of a two-month-old with no ability to walk, crawl, or communicate.
After much deliberation with their doctors, family members and Rabbi, Julie and her husband decided to terminate the pregnancy. Julie wanted an in-clinic surgical abortion, but it was not available in Washington, D.C., where she lived. Dr. George Tiller, the medical director of a women’s health clinic in Kansas that provided abortions, had recently been murdered. Doctors in the Washington, D.C. area, fearing for their own lives, suspended their abortion practices for women more than 20 weeks pregnant.
Julie considered traveling to New Jersey, but it would have been difficult to make last minute travel and childcare arrangements. She was also afraid of traveling to another state where she knew no one and had no support system if there were complications.
The only way to have an abortion locally was to have an induction abortion, which requires terminating the pregnancy and then labor and delivery. That was not the abortion procedure Julie felt was best for her. Instead of a short outpatient procedure, Julie had to spend several days at a hospital. She had to endure the physical and emotional pain of the very traumatic experience of labor and delivery for a fetus that could not survive.
A few months later, Julie became pregnant again. At 18 weeks, doctors noticed the same developmental problems in the fetus’s brain. Julie and her husband decided to terminate the pregnancy. This time, Julie was able to have a surgical abortion locally because she had been pregnant for less than 20 weeks. Her doctor scheduled the procedure quickly. Julie was discharged the same day. Julie could not have handled bringing a lawsuit to obtain an abortion had that been necessary while enduring the devastation and heartbreak of the severe fetal anomaly.
Julie believes that if she carried either of these pregnancies to term, the stress of caring for the child— if it survived—would have forced her to become socially isolated, put a strain on her marriage, and made her oldest child suffer. She thinks the government and the courts should not intrude on her very personal decisions, and could not possibly know what is best for her. Julie subsequently carried two pregnancies to term and delivered two healthy children.
Julie believes her doctors provided compassionate expert care when she terminated her pregnancies, and made her best interests their priority. She remembers feeling inspired and comforted when one of her doctors told her she was making the right decision. Another doctor, a practicing Catholic, attended her induced labor and delivery with compassion and care, and was able to see this was the right choice for her patient, even if it might differ from her personal beliefs.