Woman's Powerful Abortion Story Opposing 'Pro-Life' Movement Goes Viral

A woman has shared her own experience of having an abortion in the hope that it will demonstrate why such services should be freely available to anyone who is pregnant.

Alex Arnold, a senior editor at Quirk Books in Philadelphia, decided to speak up following the introduction of strict new laws in Texas banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

The laws, which took effect on Wednesday, prohibit abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That is usually at about six weeks into the pregnancy, a point when most women aren't even aware they are pregnant.

The US Supreme Court opted not to block the law in a move that could pave the way for other states that are eager to change abortion laws to follow suit.

Posting on Twitter under the handle @alexyarnold, Arnold wrote that she was full of "rage and grief" in the wake of the decision and had "nowhere to put it," so she decided to channel it into a thread detailing the difficult experience she faced and the role abortion played in it.

According to Arnold, last year while 18 weeks pregnant she was told that the baby she was carrying had a chromosomal disorder called Triploid syndrome.

Most fetuses born with the syndrome either miscarry, do not survive birth or are born with severe birth defects and only survive for a few days.

Left with a series of "terrible" options, Arnold says she decided to undergo surgery, which was still legal in the state of Pennsylvania.

Arnold was afraid of a traumatic delivery, and did not want the baby to suffer if they were born alive.

"I deserved to be able to make this decision, to make a choice that was best for my health and for my family," she explains.

"EVERY pregnant person does, no matter their reasons. Let me be totally clear: I do not deserve these rights more because something sad happened to me."

While Arnold acknowledged that some may not be sold on the idea of complete abortion access she argued that "NO ONE should be forced to give birth if their mental, physical, emotional well-being would suffer."

She went on to take aim at the "Pro-Life" movement, calling it "the most grotesque misnomer" for what she views as simply "forced birth."

"I would have been forced to give birth, to put my body and mind through even more trauma, had I not been protected by state laws and my own privilege," Arnold noted.

She concluded by explaining that "abortion access is healthcare," warning that "lives are on the line" in places like Texas if strict new laws of this kind remain in place.

Arnold's powerful pushback against anti-abortion laws struck a chord with many on Twitter, where her impassioned thread has been retweeted more than 16,000 times and liked over 80,000 times.

Newsweek has reached out to Arnold for further comment.

She is one of several voices to speak out in opposition to the abortion laws being introduced in Texas, which have prompted comparisons with the Taliban.

It has also emerged that the new six-week abortion ban could force women to drive up to 500 miles in order to access out-of-state abortion care.

Update 09/06/2021 4.44 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a correction - Quirk Books is based in Philadelphia not New York City.