Amanda Zurawski was 18 weeks pregnant when her water broke prematurely. It was a dangerous complication, and one that precluded the possibility of a viable birth. 

The standard treatment was terminating her pregnancy. But it was 2022, and Texas’ near-total abortion ban had already taken effect, with only a limited exception if staying pregnant threatened someone’s life. Doctors weren’t sure if Zurawski qualified. She waited three days, developing a life-threatening infection, before she was able to receive the care she needed. One of her fallopian tubes closed permanently as a result, threatening her ability to become pregnant in the future.

Months later, in March 2023, Zurawski became the lead plaintiff in a case challenging the ban — the first suit filed by someone who’d been denied an abortion since Roe v. Wade, more than 50 years prior. The case eventually drew 22 plaintiffs: women who had been unable to receive abortions, and doctors not able to provide them. 

The Texas Supreme Court ruled against Zurawski in 2024. By then, she had become a prominent voice for reproductive rights, speaking about laws in Texas and campaigning in the presidential race; she cut an ad for President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign and shared her experience from the stage at the Democratic National Convention. 

Now, she said, she is still looking for ways to speak about reproductive rights and to highlight the consequences of abortion bans. She hopes her activism might encourage others to share their own stories.

“My belief is people should be able to have children whenever, however and with whoever they want,” she said. 

Zurawski and her husband still want to become parents – likely through in vitro fertilization and a surrogate, since her doctors worry about what a future pregnancy could do to her health.

“We are still hopeful,” she said. “We refuse to give up hope.”