The husband of a Seattle woman who could die after being told she could not get a life-saving abortion has spoken out about their ordeal.
38-year-old Andrea Prudente and her husband, 45-year-old Jay Weeldreyer, were vacationing in Malta when the 16-week-pregnant suddenly suffered bleeding from the vagina.
Thinking she had a miscarriage, the expecting mother rushed to a local hospital where an ultrasound revealed a detached placenta, a ruptured membrane, and a lack of amniotic fluid in the woman’s womb.
Since the fetus still had a heartbeat, however, the hospital staff refused to operate on the woman due to Malta’s total ban on abortion.
Andrea and Jay, who remain stuck in Mater Dei Hospital, have since spoken out and revealed that the 38-year-old could die from an infection caused by her botched pregnancy.
They also claimed the doctors refuse to remove the contents of her womb even though the fetus allegedly has a “zero percent chance” to survive.
“There was a moment when Andrea told me she was seriously considering asking me to punch her as hard as I can in the stomach, to start labor or stop the heart,” Jay desperately told the Today show after getting stuck at the hospital and unable to travel back to Seattle.
“You are looking at your partner and she’s asking you to do everything that goes against your nature – hurting her, hurting the baby you want – but at the same time it might be the path to save her.
“You’re pleading and pleading, and there’s no way to get the help you want.”
Jay went on to open up about the couple’s grief when they were confronted with the grim results of the ultrasound. Not long after, the man also learned that he could be losing his wife in the process as well.
“I was gutted. Heartbroken. I thought, ‘What’s next? Is Andrea safe?’ There was an awareness that this wasn’t over yet, and we really don’t get to grieve until it is,” he added.
“There are no exceptions in the law to allow abortion even when the woman’s health is at risk, in cases of severe fetal malformation, or in cases of r*pe or inc*st.
“It wasn’t until a couple of days later that we realized the details of the legal restrictions, and that made the behavior of the medical professionals make a lot more sense. It hammered home just how bad our situation was.”
In her current condition, Andrea remains vulnerable to developing an infection that could ultimately cost her her life, whereas the doctors will not remove her fetus as long as it has a heartbeat.
On top of risking an infection, the 38-year-old also faces the prospect of hemorrhaging due to the fetus’ umbilical cord protruding from her cervix.
As Andrea told the Guardian, the hospital refuses to let the couple leave or share her medical records with her insurance company.
“I just want to get out of here alive. I couldn’t in my wildest dreams have thought up a nightmare like this,” she expressed.
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