BOISE ( Idaho Capital Sun ) — At 16 weeks pregnant, Rebecca Vincen-Brown received devastating news. Her fetus had multiple structural defects, including a dangling choroid plexus in the brain, a heart rotated on its axis, a horseshoe kidney, no detectable bladder or diaphragm, a displaced stomach, and missing digits on the right hand.
Her options were limited. She could continue the pregnancy, risking serious health complications like preeclampsia or hemorrhaging, face a miscarriage that might jeopardize her fertility, or seek an abortion.
Vincen-Brown chose an abortion, but Idaho’s strict abortion bans left her with no choice but to travel out of state for care. After the first day of the procedure, her pregnancy ended in the bathroom of a Portland hotel, where she gave birth to the fetus while her toddler was in the room next door.
On Tuesday, Vincen-Brown testified before Ada County Judge Jason Scott, sharing her experience as one of four women suing the state of Idaho over its strict abortion bans that forced her to seek care out of state.