SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) - President Joe Biden will be delivering the state of the union address to Congress Tuesday night and a South Florida congresswoman will be bringing a special guest.
“I have [suicidal] thoughts, you know, because it was very painful for me to decide to do this, and I told my husband it’s better to, you know, to suicide than to do this,” said Anabely Lopes, who will be attending the State of Union.
Lopes said the decision to end her pregnancy was so difficult, she had thoughts of suicide. Due to her age, pregnancy was deemed high risk, but tests were needed and the results were devastating.
The baby was diagnosed with trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome.
Edwards syndrome has no treatment and is usually fatal before birth or within the first year of life.
By the time results came back, it was too late to legally have the medical procedure in the State of Florida.
She needed a medical exception from a doctor and couldn’t find one to do it, which led her into leaving the State of Florida to have the procedure in Washington D.C.
“As parents we felt it was our duty to protect our daughter,” said Lopes.
Lopes made the painful decision to end her very wanted pregnancy.
“Republicans have no agenda for America, so they’re hellbent on heinously attacking and marginalizing women and minorities,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Lopes will accompany Schultz to share her story about Florida’s abortion laws at the president’s State of Union address.
“To have the governor decide what was the right thing to do rather than Anabely and her husband for their own daughter and her own healthcare is an outrageous example of how unacceptable this law is,” said Schultz.
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