ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Tears streamed down Kristen Walsh's face Tuesday as she recalled the painful time in her life.
“I got pregnant in 2021 and 13 weeks into that pregnancy we had a scan, and unfortunately, that scan found that we had a fatal fetal abnormality,” said Walsh, a nonprofit professional from Macungie.
“The baby wouldn't survive the pregnancy, and rather than endanger a future pregnancy or risk a miscarriage, we opted for an abortion."
Women from around the Lehigh Valley on Tuesday shared stories about the struggle to conceive a child as part of a roundtable discussion on reproductive rights with U.S. Rep. Susan Wild.
"As much as we can have people talk about their personal experiences, I think the more of an impact it makes."U.S. Rep. Susan Wild
She was joined in the conversation at The End Book Store in Allentown by U.S. House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and Mini Timmaraju, president of the Reproductive Freedom for All, a national political group.
"As much as we can have people talk about their personal experiences, I think the more of an impact it makes,” Wild said.
In addition to the government officials, the roundtable included women such as Walsh, who shared their painful experiences.
Walsh went on to tell the panel that after that first pregnancy, she lost another pregnancy because of the same circumstances right after the first.
"I hear a lot of people talking about abortion as if it's this awful, awful thing and how no woman should be allowed to just do whatever she wants and not suffer the consequences, but really it was health care for me,” she said.
After two failed attempts, Walsh said she was able to start her family via in vitro fertilization.
“We had to go through four rounds to have two babies," she said. "But we were able to test all of those embryos, and we did our implant last year, and now we have a 5-month-old, perfect baby girl.”
'These are really intimate stories'
Wild is highlighting stories such as Walsh’s, and other women who shared their trials and tribulations of becoming a parent, as she touted her federal bill that would protect IVF for all Americans.
"You really can't have a situation where women in one state are lesser beings than women in another state and have fewer rights," Wild said.
“It shouldn't be that way, whether for women, men, blacks, whites, whatever, it just is one of those [things], we are all Americans, and we should all have the same rights.”
Timmaraju said, "It was really powerful to hear from local women who talked about their challenges with IVF, but also abortion care.
"It's outrageous to me that any American woman should have to tell the intimate details of her most personal story, pregnancy, pregnancy loss, miscarriage, fetal anomaly.
"These are really intimate stories. We shouldn't be asking women to tell these stories just to persuade voters and explain to voters with the stakes.
"But unfortunately, this is the world we're in now, post the Dobbs decision."
A few other women joined the table for the conversation including Meredith Mills, chief executive officer of Country Meadows Retirement Communities and a mom who went through multiple rounds of IVF to start her family.
Also, Lia DeJesus, a Lehigh University student, community activist and fellow on the Wild for Congress campaign; Mallory Lane, a mom, community organizer, and staffer at Planned Parenthood; Dr. Ashley Ohnona, an obstetrics and gynecology specialist practicing in Bethlehem; and Katarah Jordan, a local activist, community organizer, and chief executive officer at Boys & Girls Club of Allentown.
'A lot more things we can agree on'
The End Bookstore owner Kirsten Hess said she was happy to give space to important issues.
“One of the things that we've always said is conversations, not keyboards."The End Bookstore owner Kirsten Hess
“One of the things that we've always said is conversations, not keyboards," Hess said.
"And we have so many things that we can disagree on, but boy, we have a lot more things that we can agree on if we're face-to-face.
"And that is the entire purpose of having a community bookstore is that there is something in here to offend everyone, and we can have an actual polite conversation about why we disagree."
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, also a Democrat, is expected to hold another roundtable at the same location Thursday.
