ectopic

Across the country, women have been turned away from emergency rooms after suffering ectopic pregnancies, which require an emergency abortion to prevent potentially fatal outcomes.

"It will make it easier to get an abortion, say, for an ectopic pregnancy, and I do think eliminating this 'life-threatening physical condition' language could help at the margins," Portuondo said in a phone interview.

In West Virginia, abortion is prohibited through all stages of pregnancy except in the case of a medical emergency, an ectopic pregnancy or a fetus that's not medically viable.

The swelling that occurred in her lower abdomen, she says, was likely an ectopic pregnancy, in which a fertilized egg implants and grows outside of the uterus.

But she miscarried in November 2021 and five months later had an ectopic pregnancy, in which the embryo implants outside of the womb, requiring emergency surgery.