Zurawski v Texas, co-produced by Jennifer Lawrence, exposes cruelty and devastation inflicted on women victimised by anti-abortion laws

Dear Gossips,

It was confirmed earlier this week that Jennifer Lawrence and her husband, Cooke Maroney, are expecting again. Last night she stepped out in LA for her first official appearance since the news at the AFI premiere of the documentary Zurawski v Texas, which she co-produced alongside Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.

Zurawski v Texas is about how “Texas’s antiabortion laws have caused grief, loss, trauma, and in some cases near-death experiences” told through the experience of multiple women who’ve been denied healthcare during pregnancy, doctors who’ve had to deny women lifesaving healthcare, and the lawyers who are fighting for reproductive freedom.

One of those women, Amanda Zurawski was 18 weeks pregnant when her water broke and could not get an abortion because according to Texas law, doctors can be punished, fined, have their licences taken away or even be sent to prison if they are determined to have performed “illegal” abortions. Amanda eventually did get an abortion… but only AFTER she was diagnosed with sepsis and almost died. She did recover but this was the consequence: damage to one of her fallopian tubes, “compromising her future ability to have children”. And so she then had to go through IVF. Please note, Amanda and her family had the resources to help her through this devastating experience. So many other women in similar situations don’t.

You can learn more about Amanda and the other plaintiffs at the Center for Reproductive Rights and/or watch this video:

Jennifer Lawrence’s current personal situation adds even more power to this premiere. Because in the United States, approximately 60% of women who seek abortions are already mothers and of that 60%, half of them have two or more children. The statistics are similar in the UK and Australia. (Source: NYT and The Guardian) There is much disinformation, so many myths about abortion – and this is one of them: that women who get abortions are rejecting motherhood and family. Or selfish, incapable of sacrifice, when in fact they are getting abortions so that they can better take care of their families.

This, obviously, doesn’t represent everyone who makes that decision for themselves. But the point is to expand the understanding of who is at risk with these f-cked up laws that take away the basic human right for women to decide what they do with their own bodies and how they live their lives. In many cases, to deny a woman an abortion limits their lives, or completely ends it. Amanda Zurawski almost died from being denied an abortion but others were not so fortunate. Like Amanda Thurman who was 28 years old, with a young son, when she died after she was denied an abortion, went into sepsis, and her organs failed. Her death was entirely preventable with a simple procedure – and now her child has to live out the rest of his life without his mother.

This is f-cking horrific – and we SHOULD be horrified. These laws are barbaric, and this documentary exposes the cruelty and devastation being inflicted on women that are victimised by them. Please watch the trailer below. As the filmmakers and the producers have posted with the trailer:

“This weekend, for FREE, you have the chance to see the critically acclaimed documentary ZURAWSKI v TEXAS before Election Day. Don’t miss it. Access to reproductive healthcare hangs in the balance.”