Amanda Zurawski | |
|---|---|
 Zurawski in 2024 | |
| Born | 1987 (age 37–38) [1] [2] |
| Occupation | high tech [2] |
| Known for | Zurawski v. State of Texas |
Amanda Zurawski (born 1987) is an American reproductive rights activist known for her role in suing the state of Texas, in Zurawski v. State of Texas, after she suffered life threatening risks during her pregnancy after being denied an abortion.
Amanda Zurawski was denied an abortion when she was 18 weeks pregnant because her fetus had a detectable heartbeat. She subsequently went into septic shock twice and was left with a permanently closed fallopian tube due to scar tissue. Subsequently, she filed a suit against the State of Texas, alongside four other women who joined the suit in March 2023. The New York Times reported that the case was the first time that a pregnant woman took legal action against an abortion ban since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 in the decision of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization . [3]
On 26 April 2023, Zurawski appeared in a United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing on the impact of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. She addressed her senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, saying that her "horrific" experience was due to the policies they supported and that she "nearly died on their watch". [4] [5]
Zurawski campaigned heavily for President Biden's re-election and subsequently was a surrogate in the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris in 2024 as an outspoken supporter to "restoring and protecting reproductive rights in this country". [6] She was featured in a campaign ad focused on abortion access that retold her story and near-death experience. [7] In August 2024, Zurawski appeared along with her husband Josh as a speaker at the 2024 Democratic National Convention where she talked about abortion rights remaining a top-of-mind concern for her, along with access to contraception and IVF, which have been targeted by some sectors of the anti-abortion movement. In a statement with The 19th, Zurawski did not rule out running for public office in 2026. [8] [6]
On 4 December 2024, Zurawski appeared alongside Kerry Washington and Jennifer Lawrence, one of the producers of the documentary focused on Zurawski's case, at the Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Gala to present $1 million in college scholarships for high school students from underserved communities in Los Angeles. Zurawski addressed the stage:
The power of your voice and your choices are never small. To the young women here today, especially those of you in the mentorship program: you have the potential to change everything. … You have the power to demand more — for your health, your education, your careers, your futures — and no one should ever take that power away from you. [9]
In November 2024 a documentary movie about Zurawski and her case titled "Zurawski v Texas" was released in cinemas. The movie features Zurawski and others centered in the case, alongside lead attorney Molly Duane of the Center for Reproductive Rights and others and was co-directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault. [10] [11] [12]
In December 2024, Zurawski was named one of BBC's 100 Women of 2024. [13]
Zurawski grew up in Indiana, where she met her now-husband Josh Zurawski when they were young children at Aldersgate Academy preschool. They became a couple in high school. They now live in Austin, Texas, working in high tech. [1] [2]
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected a right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many abortion laws, and it sparked an ongoing abortion debate in the United States about whether, or to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, and what the role of moral and religious views in the political sphere should be. The decision also shaped debate concerning which methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication.
The United States abortion-rights movement is a sociopolitical movement in the United States supporting the view that a woman should have the legal right to an elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy, and is part of a broader global abortion-rights movement. The movement consists of a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body.
In the United States, abortion is a divisive issue in politics and culture wars, though a majority of Americans support access to abortion. Abortion laws vary widely from state to state.
Sarah Catherine Ragle Weddington was an American attorney, law professor, advocate for women's rights and reproductive health, and member of the Texas House of Representatives. She was best known for representing "Jane Roe" in the landmark Roe v. Wade case before the United States Supreme Court. She also was the first female General Counsel for the US Department of Agriculture.
The legality of abortion in the United States and the various restrictions imposed on the procedure vary significantly, depending on the laws of each state or other jurisdiction, although there is no uniform federal law. Some states prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions; others permit it up to a certain point in a woman's pregnancy, while some allow abortion throughout a woman's pregnancy. In states where abortion is legal, several classes of restrictions on the procedure may exist, such as parental consent or notification laws, requirements that patients be shown an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, mandatory waiting periods, and counseling requirements.
Abortion in Oklahoma is illegal unless the abortion is necessary to save the life of a pregnant individual.
Abortion in Texas is illegal in most cases. There are nominally exceptions to save the mother's life, or prevent "substantial impairment of major bodily function", but the law on abortion in Texas is written in such an ambiguous way that life-threatening or harmful pregnancies do not explicitly constitute an exception. Attempts to clarify and codify these exceptions into law have been rejected by Republican lawmakers in Texas.
Abortion in Louisiana is illegal as of August 1, 2022.
Abortion in Arizona is legal up to the point of fetal viability as a result of Arizona Proposition 139 being put into the Arizona state constitution. It is the southernmost continental state where abortion is broadly protected.
Abortion in Idaho is illegal from fertilization. Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, abortion in Idaho was criminalized by the trigger law which states that a person who performs an abortion may face two to five years of imprisonment. The ban allows exceptions for maternal health, rape and incest within the first trimester. The law took effect on August 25, 2022. Minors need parental consent to travel out of state for an abortion.
As of 2024, abortion is generally illegal in Indiana. It is only legal in cases involving fatal fetal abnormalities, to preserve the life and physical health of the mother, and in cases of rape or incest up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. Previously abortion in Indiana was legal up to 20 weeks; a near-total ban that was scheduled to take effect on August 1, 2023, was placed on hold due to further legal challenges, but is set to take place, after the Indiana Supreme Court denied an appeal by the ACLU, and once it certifies a previous ruling that an abortion ban doesn't violate the state constitution. In the wake of the 2022 Dobbs Supreme Court ruling, abortion in Indiana remained legal despite Indiana lawmakers voting in favor of a near-total abortion ban on August 5, 2022. Governor Eric Holcomb signed this bill into law the same day. The new law became effective on September 15, 2022. However, on September 22, 2022, Special Judge Kelsey B. Hanlon of the Monroe County Circuit Court granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the ban. Her ruling allows the state's previous abortion law, which allows abortions up to 20 weeks after fertilization with exceptions for rape and incest, to remain in effect.
Abortion in Massachusetts is legal, although terminations after the 24th week can only be performed if a physician determines it to be medically necessary. Modern Massachusetts is considered to be one of the most supportive states for abortion rights in the country; a 2014 Pew Research poll found that 74% of residents supported the right to an abortion in all or most cases, a higher percentage than any other state in 2014. Marches supporting abortion rights took place as part of the #StoptheBans movement in May 2019. The 2023 American Values Atlas reported that, in their most recent survey, 78% of people from Massachusetts said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Abortion in Ohio is legal up to the point of fetal viability as a result of abortion rights being placed into the Ohio State Constitution by November 2023 Ohio Issue 1.
Abortion in Wisconsin has been legal since September 18, 2023, before which its legal status had been unclear since the overturn of Roe v Wade, and is performed in Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan through 22 weeks gestation. However, elective abortions in Wisconsin are under dispute after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 24, 2022. Abortion opponents cite an 1849 law that they claim bans the procedure in all cases except when the life of the mother is in danger. However, lower level courts have argued that the law only applies to infanticide and not consensual abortions. The enforceability of the law is disputed and being considered by the state courts. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced that they would resume abortion services in Madison and Milwaukee on September 18, 2023. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin later announced that they would resume abortion services in Sheboygan on December 28, 2023.
Abortion in California is legal up to the point of fetal viability. An abortion ban was in place by 1900, and by 1950, it was a criminal offense for a woman to have an abortion. In 1962, the American Law Institute published their model penal code, as it applied to abortions, with three circumstances where they believed a physician could justifiably perform an abortion, and California adopted a version of this code. In 2002, the California State Legislature passed a law guaranteeing women the right to have an abortion "prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman". In 2022, 67% of California voters approved Proposition 1, which amended the Constitution of California to explicitly protect the right to abortion and contraception.
Abortion in Florida is generally illegal after six weeks from the woman's last menstrual period, This law came into effect in May 2024, being approved by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis following its passage in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate, with only Republican state legislators supporting. Additionally, pregnant women are generally required to make two visits to a medical facility 24 hours apart to be able to obtain an abortion, in a law approved by Republican Governor Rick Scott in 2015.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision overruled both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), returning to the federal and state legislatures the power to regulate any aspect of abortion not protected by federal statutory law.
Zurawski v. State of Texas is a case heard by the Texas Supreme Court regarding medical exceptions to the state's abortion ban. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on March 6, 2023. On August 4, 2023, State District Court Judge Jessica Mangrum granted the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction; the state of Texas appealed this decision to the Texas Supreme Court later that same day. The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on November 28, 2023 and issued the decision on May 31, 2024.
Adkins v. State of Idaho is a court case heard by the Idaho Fourth District Court regarding medical exceptions to the state's abortion ban, specifically relating to cases in which a pregnant person's life is at risk and when a fetus has a fatal diagnosis. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on September 11, 2023, and proceedings began November 12, 2024.
Blackmon v. State of Tennessee is a court case heard by the Tennessee Twelfth Judicial District Court regarding medical exceptions to the state's abortion ban, specifically relating to pregnant persons with emergent health conditions. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on September 11, 2023, and a hearing was held April 4, 2024.