The woman was 19 weeks pregnant when her water broke. Within less than a day, she’d developed a life-threatening infection.
Dr. Mae-Lan Wang Winchester, an OB-GYN in Cleveland, was called in to end the pregnancy. But Ohio has banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected unless the mother’s life is threatened.
“The first person I called is my lawyer to be like … ‘Do I need to do anything different or special? I know what to do medically, but what do I do legally to protect her, protect me?'” Winchester said.