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Kaitlyn Kash: One of 22 Center clients challenging Texas’s abortion ban

  • Story
2 min. read

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Table of Contents

  1. What Happened
  2. How the Center is Fighting Back
What Happened

What Happened

Kaitlyn Kash was pregnant with her second child when doctors discovered after her 13-week ultrasound that her baby had severe skeletal dysplasia — a condition affecting bone and cartilage growth — and the baby was unlikely to survive until birth or would suffocate soon after being born. When Kaitlyn asked what option would ensure the least amount of suffering for her baby, doctors recommended she seek “a second opinion, but outside Texas.” Kaitlyn was able to obtain abortion care after traveling to a clinic in Kansas, but not before protestors harassed her and other patients seeking care.  

After becoming pregnant a few months later, Kaitlyn miscarried at seven weeks. Her doctor prescribed medication to help her pass the pregnancy, but because the drug is also used for medication abortion, she struggled to find a pharmacy to fill the prescription. 

After another miscarriage without medical intervention, Kaitlyn became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter in 2023. After the birth, she needed a dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure to remove remaining placental tissue, but the hospital had difficulty locating the equipment and staff for the procedure. 

While waiting, Kaitlyn’s condition deteriorated. After vomiting, losing blood, and losing consciousness, she was transferred to the ICU, where she was later told she was lucky she hadn’t lost her uterus. Kaitlyn still struggles to understand why the hospital had so much trouble providing her with routine postpartum care. Kaitlyn’s experience shows how abortion bans can affect far more than abortion care itself: a routine D&C to remove retained placental tissue turned into a delay that landed her in the ICU.

How the Center is Fighting Back

How the Center is Fighting for the Kashes

 Kaitlyn was one of 22 plaintiffs in Zurawski v. State of Texas, a Center case filed on behalf of seven original plaintiffs — five Texas women denied abortion care and two Texas OB-GYNs. After the case was filed, more Texans came forward to share their own stories of being denied abortion care, and 14 more women joined as plaintiffs, bringing the total to 22.

Why donate? Women in states with abortion bans are 2X as likely to die.

With active cases in 10 states, your donation helps defend patients who need access to life-saving healthcare. With your support, the Center can continue fighting for our fundamental human rights.

Kaitlyn Kash’s Words

“I waited an hour and 49 minutes and continued to bleed out until I eventually lost consciousness, went into hemorrhagic shock, and I spent my daughter’s first night in this world away from her in the ICU while a nurse held her and ultimately needed a blood transfusion,” said Kaitlyn Kash.