Lawmakers Share Their Abortion Stories Ahead Of Congressional Hearing

Democratic Reps. Cori Bush (Mo.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) and Barbara Lee (Calif.) shared their abortion stories on Wednesday, a day before a congressional hearing on access to the procedure, which is under increasing threat.

In an interview with NBC News that aired Wednesday evening on MSNBCs The ReidOut with Joy Reid, Jayapal spoke about getting pregnant after her first incredibly difficult pregnancy, after which she gave birth to her child, Janak, who was premature and not expected to live. Jayapal experienced postpartum depression and contemplated suicide.

There was no way I could have another baby at that time, Jayapal told NBC News. I spoke to the person who became my husband, my loving partner at the time. He was completely supportive and I decided to have an abortion.

Jayapal, who first disclosed that she had an abortion in 2019, added: Weve got to tell the truth about our experiences, so that we can come to the right policy solutions, and so that we can actually move us forward and not backwards.

On Thursday, Jayapal, Bush and Lee will testify about their personal experiences with abortion before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, in a hearing examining the threat to abortion rights and access in states across the country .

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court allowed a law that effectively bans abortions after the sixth week of a pregnancy the strictest anti-abortion law in the nation to go into effect in Texas.

And in December, the nations highest court will hear arguments in a Mississippi abortion case that is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade , the landmark decision that protects a persons right to abortion in the U.S.

Coming up tonight on @msnbcs @thereidout and @nbcnewsnow: my exclusive conversation w/ Reps. @RepBarbaraLee, @RepJayapal, and @CoriBush sharing their abortion stories ahead of testifying before the House Oversight Cmte and how they hope it changes the policy conversation. pic.twitter.com/BUNTCSaK7Z

Ali Vitali (@alivitali) September 29, 2021","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Ali Vitali","author_url":"https://twitter.com/alivitali","cache_age":86400,"description":"Coming up tonight on @msnbcs @thereidout and @nbcnewsnow: my exclusive conversation w/ Reps. @RepBarbaraLee, @RepJayapal, and @CoriBush sharing their abortion stories ahead of testifying before the House Oversight Cmte and how they hope it changes the policy conversation. pic.twitter.com/BUNTCSaK7Z Ali Vitali (@alivitali) September 29, 2021\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":1080,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FAeox2EXMAgIukw.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1515,"title":"Ali Vitali on 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Coming up tonight on @msnbc s @thereidout and @nbcnewsnow : my exclusive conversation w/ Reps. @RepBarbaraLee , @RepJayapal , and @CoriBush sharing their abortion stories ahead of testifying before the House Oversight Cmte and how they hope it changes the policy conversation. pic.twitter.com/BUNTCSaK7Z
Ali Vitali (@alivitali) September 29, 2021

Bush also shared her abortion story, telling NBC News that at age 17 she was raped by a man several years older than her on a church trip. When she found out she was pregnant, she just knew that I wasnt ready for a child.

I was able to get the services that I need because they were available, and I didnt have to jump through a bunch of hoops, Bush said. I had enough anguish, I had so much going on that I didnt need all these other things in the way of me getting services.

In a release from Bushs office, the congresswoman said she was coming forward with her story now because it was a critical moment in the push for every persons right to choose.

Tomorrow, I will share a story that Ive never fully told publicly before.

I am testifying at the Oversight Committee hearing on abortion care and I will share that when I was 17, I was raped, became pregnant, and got an abortion.

And I am not ashamed. https://t.co/S7HT22NVvG

Cori Bush (@CoriBush) September 29, 2021","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Cori Bush","author_url":"https://twitter.com/CoriBush","cache_age":86400,"description":"Tomorrow, I will share a story that Ive never fully told publicly before.I am testifying at the Oversight Committee hearing on abortion care and I will share that when I was 17, I was raped, became pregnant, and got an abortion.And I am not ashamed. https://t.co/S7HT22NVvG Cori Bush (@CoriBush) September 29, 2021\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Cori Bush on 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Tomorrow, I will share a story that Ive never fully told publicly before.

I am testifying at the Oversight Committee hearing on abortion care and I will share that when I was 17, I was raped, became pregnant, and got an abortion.

And I am not ashamed. https://t.co/S7HT22NVvG
Cori Bush (@CoriBush) September 29, 2021

When abortion access is restricted, poor people and people of color are disproportionately affected.

Lee warned that laws being passed to restrict abortion access now could take us back to the days before Roe v. Wade a time that she knows from her own experience.

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Lee got pregnant in the 1960s at age 16, before Roe was decided. A friend of her mothers connected her to a doctor in Mexico, who provided abortion care in a back alley clinic, Bush told NBC News.

Ill never forget that night. I was terrified, Lee said. I survived, and why its so important now for me to tell the story is: I dont want any woman to ever have to go to through that.

As hard as it is, I want people to know that were at the brink now of going back to those days where women die, especially Black women and women of color, she added. And so this is a wake up call.