♪ had to let her go oh ooooh baby don't care for me baby don't care for me had to let her go ♪ ♪ hm hm hm hm hm ♪ [ cheers and applause ] this is "nightline." >> tonight, on the brink. the hidden crisis in america. pregnant women facing dangerous emergencies. >> he told me in that very moment that you can get an

infection, possibly sepsis, and die. >> after the supreme court's ruling last year, 21 states enforcing laws restricting medical treatment for pregnant women. doctors sounding the alarm, saying those laws are confusing and women are paying the price. >> it's 25% chance of death? is that enough? does she have to have a 75% chance of death? who gets to decide? >> byron: our diane sawyer and rachel scott in their months-long reporting. >> i'm wondering how many of you almost didn't come? >> byron: talking to families who went from the joy of expecting to anguish over their loss. to the gripping fear for the life of the mother. >> she's literally dying. inside of me. as i lay on the bed. going septic. >> byron: hearing from the women who suffered the trauma and their partners. >> can things change without the support of men? >> no. >> no.

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for all that is you. ♪ >> byron: good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight, we're diving deep into a hidden medical crisis pregnant women with dire complications in states with abortion restrictions. diane sawyer and rachel scott teamed up to report on women with high-risk pregnancies facing emergencies in the 21

states that have enforced their own laws since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. rachel joins us now with a preview of the special on hulu. rachel? >> byron, it is a hidden medical crisis. we spoke to over 100 doctors across 21 states. they say the laws are confusing and uninformed about high-risk pregnancies and that women are paying the price and that it is dire. so the woman that you're about to hear from, they've come out of the the shadows to tell us their harrowing stories so everyone in america can know the truth, asking us all, is this really what we want for pregnant women in this country? ♪ ♪ >> reporter: we're there as they walk into a room in texas. from idaho, florida, alabama,

south carolina, wisconsin, arizona, arkansas, louisiana, tennessee. they are strangers who have gathered together because they share a common bond. suffering in the crossfire and confusion of new health care laws, laws in 21 states in this country with varying bans and restrictions. these women say they know there are thousands of others out there like them. i'm wondering how many of you almost didn't come? how many of you felt you had to come? >> yeah. >> for sure. >> i don't think people realize how common this is. >> is this a debate over abortion? or is it a debate over health care? >> health care. >> human rights. >> that's what people need to understand, these were wanted babies. >> reporter: let's start with the story of this woman in the front row, kristin anaia. like so many in this room, for

months and months she'd been trying to get pregnant. here's the moment she got the phone call of her dreams. [ phone ringing ] >> hello? >> hi, kristin, it's dr. vance field. are you guys together? >> we are. >> we have really good news! congratulations! >> reporter: four months of complete happiness. before the day of complete heartbreak. the membranes protecting her fetus broke, and her water, the amniotic fluid, lost. doctors say this happened so early, the fetus cannot be saved. with her fetus dying inside her, kristin is now at risk. the clock begins ticking on infection. the terror of sepsis.

in states where there are no bans, doctors would race to induce labor to protect her health, her fertility, her life. >> the doctors needed to start inducing me immediately. however, they were unable to because of texas abortion laws. >> so the exact words were, "we have to prove to the ethics board and the medical board at this hospital that your life is in danger." "before we can intervene." >> reporter: she is shaking violently from fever, vomiting nonstop. >> she's literally dying inside of me. as i lay on the bed going septic. and in what world does that make any sense? to prevent health care for me? what about my life? >> reporter: so you are waiting how many hours? 20, 22 hours? >> over 24 -- almost 24 hours. >> reporter: finally the boards approve her treatment. the doctors induce labor. the baby passes. but kristin is so sick from infection, she has to remain in

the hospital for the next five days. getting iv antibiotics and blood transfusions. in the course of our reporting, we talked to nearly 100 doctors in those 21 states. the doctors told us about wading through the ever-changing contradictory state laws. to be clear, every state law does include an exemption to save the life of the mother. but doctors say, what about the mother's health? her fertility? >> because these exceptions are so confusing and it's unclear howsick someone has to be, we actually have to wait. >> do we have to wait until they are septic and have uncontrollable infection? at the brink of organ failure? before we intervene? that's not how we practice medicine. >> is 25% chance of death, is that enough? does she have to have a 75% chance of death? who gets to decide? >> reporter: take note of what the doctors are up against. if the state disagrees with

their decision, the punishment could be extreme. loss of medical license. in some states, fines up to $100,000. and even life in prison. >> you can't make rules up for the clinical scenarios that we deal with. it's too technical. there's too many variables. >> reporter: and here's what happened in florida. to anya cook and her husband, derek. they were finally pregnant after years of infertility and miscarriages. >> oh my god! >> reporter: anya was 15 weeks pregnant when the couple went out to dinner to celebrate their dream come true. >> as we were walking out of the restaurant, i felt a gush of water being thrown at me. never in my wildest dreams did i even think that that was my amniotic fluid that was leaking out of me.

so then we -- we went to the hospital. which was about five minutes away. >> reporter: in florida, abortion is banned after 15 weeks. so where does this leave anya, who was just a few days past the limit? >> he told me in that very moment that, "you can get an infection, possibly sepsis, and die." >> reporter: the doctor is discharging her from the emergency room. she has symptoms of pelvic pain and bleeding, but the hospital said her life was not in danger yet. so she did not qualify for an emergency exception. she's sent home with antibiotics and an ominous feeling. >> i had a hair appointment that next day. it popped in my mind, you know what, i have to go to my hair appointment because --

mom doesn't hear this part. because i didn't want my mom to have to worry about getting my locks done or having a mortuary take care of it. because i knew i would die within the next two to three days. so we went. i went to my hair salon. >> reporter: and while you're there? >> i sat up, and something just told me i needed to go into the bathroom. and in that moment, diane, i've never given birth. i didn't know exactly what was going to happen. i've seen videos. but this was not that. i literally put my hands on my thighs, and i just let out a really big sigh. and that's when i heard her.

i heard my daughter hit the toilet. oh -- okay. >> reporter: derek comes in, calls an ambulance. she's clearly her ly hemorrhagi. how much blood did you lose? >> half the blood in her body. >> reporter: half the blood? >> yeah. >> reporter: in the stories we heard, it's not only women impacted. many of their husbands also felt an urgent need to be here. >> surreal experience. the whole thing has been surreal. >> for me, it's emotional. a lot of men, they don't think this is their issue. >> reporter: can things change without the support of men? >> no. >> no. >> we need to be together as a team. imagine if this continued to keep going and we don't step up as men. or if our women don't fight the

way they are fighting right now. imagine if everybody just swept this up under the car it's going to be a lot of casualties. a lot of women are going to die. >> so many women this happens to that don't have the resources, don't have the support, that are stigmatized and forced into silence. >> a lot of us feel like the protectors of the family. now we have outside sources telling us how to be fathers. >> it's not only a girl's dream to have a child. it's also our dream. >> we know that this is such a polarizing issue. >> why? why? it shouldn't be. >> some of us were already for abortion, some of us were against it. in my personal opinion, i was 100% against it. i did not believe in rape, a 12-year-old could have got raped, didn't believe it, nope, nope. >> reporter: what made you change your mind? >> my daughter. i had to go through such a traumatic trauma experience to

change my view. >> i am extremely grateful for those who have decided, i had beliefs previously, i have new information now, i'm going to choose to change my beliefs based on that new information. that, to me, is hopeful. and i am hopeful that these men will stand as examples for other men to do the same. >> byron: just wow. i mean, first off, rachel, to you, to diane, to your team, i say this as a man, a as a father, as a person of faith. thank you. their stories, so powerful. those women, so strong. so powerful. >> it really is an incredible team behind this. each of those women and their partners that came forward to tell us their stories had an extreme amount of courage. and they were mostly complete strangers. now they leave that room forever bonded by the trauma that they went through. >> byron: i have plenty of

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♪ welcome back. we're here with abc's senior congressional correspondent, rachel scott. this work that you and diane and your team produced, this is an examination of the abortion debate i've not seen on network television before. in your two years working on this, anything in particular surprise you? >> the hidden reality of how far-reaching the consequences are surprised me on this one, byron. we talked to nearly 100 doctors. some of told us the more these complete bans go into effect in their states, the harder it is for them to care for patients.

the reality is they're leaving the state to practice elsewhere. it leaves this question, what is the complete and total impact this is going to have on the health care system as a whole? >> one of the doctors used the phrase, unintended consequences of these new abortion laws. politically speaking, are there any measurable pushbacks occurring in the country? >> some state lawmakers, ones who have supported these bans who have heard stories from women like you just heard and they have said, we are getting it wrong, we need to make change, we need to amend these laws. specifically to address the health of the woman. they get a lot of pushback from. colleagues in these state capitols. yes, things are starting to change, but it comes with a lot of pushback from other republicans. >> byron: this is one of those shows, no matter where you sit on the debate, in families where there's division that people can sit down and watch this sober report. that was just so powerful.

and painful. is there hope of any kind in this story to be found? >> i think the hope comes from awareness. and particularly when you heard from the men in that piece. where they just said, i didn't know. i didn't know this could happen. i had my own viewpoints. then i learned that these could be the extreme consequences that could happen as a result of these laws, and their minds changed. so i think the one thing here is the awareness, which is why stories like these are just so important. because these are the hidden realities of living in a post-roe america. >> byron: there are a number of cases in the court system. one case in particular, kay cox that we've reported on before, what more can you tell us about that case in texas? >> this was the first pregnant woman to sue any state. a state where abortion is completely banned. her uterus was at risk of rupturing. she had been to the emergency room four times in the last month. she had a nonviable fetus with a very severe condition. she was asking the state a simple question. can i please get an emergency

abortion? well, went all the way up to the texas supreme court, and they ruled against her. one thing here that is very notable is that advocates believe that the floodgates will open and we may start to see more and more cases just like that one. >> byron: i have a sense of how exhausting this kind of work can be, when you and your team pour your hearts into it. is there something that will stick with rachel scott? >> that's a good question. that's a byron question. the stories of the women in that room. hearing the emotion. it took so much courage for them to get there. there were women there that had never been on a plane before that wanted to come in order for americans, for people in this country, who know the reality of what they have lived, what they have endured, what they have suffered with. and so the consequences, whether intended or not, are real for these families. and they will they will be livi this trauma for a very long time. their one hope is another family does not have to go through what

they went through. >> byron: those of us who went to journalism school, we work for nights like this. thank you to you, diane, your remarkable team. powerful reporting. stream the full episode of "impact by nightline" "on the brink" now on hulu. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis.

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>> reporter: 100 years of the walt disney company's storied history in two hours? no pressure. >> challenge accepted, let's go. >> reporter: it's all here. the memories. >> "pirates of the caribbean." it's the best ride i've ever been on. >> reporter: the magic. >> i loved "snow white." so good. >> reporter: the men an who madt possible. >> my greatest reward is that i've been able to build this wonderful organization, and also to have the public appreciate and accept what i've done all these years. that is a great reward. >> monumental gentleman. his dreams were larger than most people's. >> reporter: tonight's documentary event chock full of disney legends sharing their secrets. >> i didn't know how to dance, so i just faked it. i faked it pretty good. >> reporter: a treasure trove of disney "did you know?" >> walt did mickey's voice early on. >> pluto? you don't want to get told off,

do you? be quiet and i'll let you out. >> reporter: and the ways in which the disney universe has expanded through the years. >> wakanda forever! >> to be part of something like "black panther" that really changes what is possible with black story in hollywood has been monumental. >> reporter: we'll take you inside the vault. >> this funny face is sneezy. he has hayfever. >> reporter: across the globe. along the way, relive the stories and experiences that generation after generation have enjoyed together, thanks to walt and the many wishes in his heart. >> that was his secret, that he was still a child inside. >> byron: our thanks to chris. "disney 100: a century of dreams" is now streaming in hulu. that's "nightline" for this evening. see you right back here, same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.