♪ tonight, one pregnant woman's heart-wrenching journey across the country to save her life. >> i shouldn't have to be on my

death bed for you to consider my life as important as my baby's life. >>. >> juju: with abortion rights a hot button issue this year, the doctors and families living in the gray of a post roe america. >> 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. >> juju: the heartbreak and the hope. >> i'll always have her in my heart. i'll see her again. >> juju: this special edition of "nightline," "i'll see her again." we'll be right back. how do i do it all? with a little help. and to support my family's immune health, i choose airborne.

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and for the community. -team! for all that is me, for all that is you. kaiser permanente. thanks for joining us. tonight we begin with the battle over abortion rights, which once again could drive some voters to the polls this election year, but there's another side to the story, the lives caught up in the middle, forced to make painful decisions and travel hundreds of miles away from home. abc's rachel scott takes us inside one couple's deeply personal journey that they never expected to make. >> so this was going to be her nursery. we've gotten some toys and some

onesies. even friends have given us a bunch of hand me downs. i'm very anxious this whole pregnancy, so i didn't like to come in here, to be honest. i was scared for most of this pregnancy. this is the special bear the high-risk doctor gave us with her heartbeat in it. you like messing with that, don't you? >> yeah, i do. it annoys you. >> i like it, but it's also very upsetting too. ♪ >> juju: sometimes there aren't words to describe a grief this deep. a young mom supposed to be celebrating the coming birth of a new life, instead mourning it. forced to travel hundreds of miles from home in order to save her own life. >> on your hands. >> juju: since the fall of roe

v. wade, whole regions of the country have fallen into uncertainty, surrounding laws with abortion access, potential lawsuits. doctors face fines, suspensions, even prison time. in many places, abortion advocates say there are exceptions to the bans. but what does it take to qualify? >> do we have to wait until they are septic and have uncontrollable infection, have an icu admission, need multiple blood transfusion, at the brink of organ failure before we intervene? that's not how we practice medicine. >> juju: what does it mean to be on the brink? and what is the cost of the lives in the balance? >> i shouldn't have to be on my death bed for you to consider my life as important as my baby's life. >> juju: at 22 weeks along, it's painfully obvious that alexandra is pregnant. what you can't see is the

heartbreak behind her smile. this is a last-minute maternity shoot for the 31-year-old texas mom. in just a few hours, she and her husband blake will leave for washington, d.c. to get an abortion. >> i guess that's one thing that i'm grateful for is that i'm able to have this time with her and know like there is an end near, but i can enjoy her last days. it's hard, but i'm thankful for it. >> juju: it's a tragic end to a much wanted pregnancy, one alexandra wanted to badly, she took on a second job to afford ivf. a baby girl named aura grace. and while she is confident in her decision, she did ask us to change their names to avoid harassment for speaking publicly about this very private journey. >> this is her little head.

and her nose. this is like her mouth area, but her hand was in the way. i went to a high-risk doctor, and they did an anatomy scan. i was 19 -- i was almost 20 weeks, 19 weeks and a few days. the first thing he said is, you know, i'm seeing a lot of abnormalities here, and she is not compatible with life. >> in all there were four different abnormalities. all together, there was no chance of survival, especially with one being potter syndrome, where critical organs don't develop. >> kidneys. the kidneys are not functioning, which caused no fluid. you have to have fluid for a baby's lungs to develop. so in essence, she wouldn't be able to breathe when she gets out. with all of them together, it just wasn't right. i think my health is what i'm scared about the most, just because no matter, she is going to be gone.

but i still have a family that i need to live for, and my son needs me. i just want to stay healthy. >> juju: in addition to the fetal diagnosis, alexandra had other complications. a few weeks ago, she started bleeding. she hasn't stopped. she also has something called placenta previa, which can cause severe bleeding closer to delivery. what did the doctors say about the risks to your own health? >> he was like something needs to be done now. they were very scared about hemorrhaging or any complications. i called my husband on the way home and was like meet me at the house. i talked to him about it. and no matter what, we're saving you first. we love this baby, but if she has no quality of life, there is no reason for us to drag this on longer than it has to be. >> when did you know that something was wrong? >> i always had like mother's intuition. there was something wrong. >> when you're getting the news

that no expecting mother wants to hear from the doctor, and you're not getting any answers as to what more you can do and what your options are, did you understand why in that moment? >> i did afterwards. and that was very frustrating for me, because the "abortion" was not in my vocabulary. i personally don't believe in it. but it's never been something that i've ever really thought about in-depth, you know. i'm not that political. >> what about now? >> it's not just yes or no. it's not black and white. there is definitely gray areas that should definitely be considered and some government telling you that yes or no. >> for someone living in texas and all across the southern part of the country, abortion is largely banned. and for someone in their second

trimester, finding treatment gets even harder. >> you're a nurse. you help people every day. did you get a sense that your doctors were afraid? >> yeah, definitely. it wasn't that they didn't want to help me. they were just nervous about telling me where to get the help. >> dr. shelly tian knows what's that's like. on this day dr. tian is in kansas at the trust women clinic. >> dr. tian, nice to see you. >> good to see you too. >> go right through here, my dear. >> as a board certified ob/gyn who specializes in fetal medicine, dr. tian is an expert in high-risk pregnancies. she is also an abortion provider. why do you think it's essential to provide abortion care? >> safe abortion care is women's health care. it's necessary health care. and suddenly we're in a position where we're scared to talk about it. physicians and health care systems are wondering is she sick enough to meet that

exception? can i act now? >> dr. tian goes to kansas for a few days every month. she also works part of the year attending to high-risk pregnancies in arizona. >> do you need me? >> yes. >> what can i do for you? >> but her home base is in jacksonville, florida, which means tian spends an extraordinary amount of time in airports and on planes. >> you know, on a typical clinic day, we will wrap up usually by 5:00 p.m. but that can also vary. i do always have a backup. >> florida's republican-controlled government passed a 15-week abortion ban that could soon become a six-week ban. dr. tian is one of the plaintiffs challenging those restrictions in court. >> today regards to staff, we've got everybody here? >> we've got tia, in, 27 consults. five, four surles. >> can i come in? okay. you're all set. >> when i talk with patients, i

tell them pregnancy is very much a stress test for the body. it's a stress test for the heart, for the lungs, for the kidneys, for the pancreas. so patients that already have preexisting medical concerns, that pregnancy can really worsen those health conditions. >> my name is vanessa. i'm a single mom from pensacola, florida. i have an autistic 6-year-old son and i am here for a medical abortion. >> vanessa asked us not to show her face. she nearly died after giving birth to her son when she was 19 years old. >> my blood pressure would not go down for about a week straight. i had a stroke just the day after i had my son. it was a very scary situation. i didn't know that i was actually having a stroke. >> vanessa's blood pressure is still an issue, making pregnancy dangerous. she was in the hospital just days ago. >> it just kind of feels like you have no other choice up

there but to have a baby once you get pregnant. >> on the same day, we also met a woman we will call jenny. >> i have stage 4 kidney disease, and i have high blood pressure and also type 2 diabetic, and my age. i'm 42 years as well. so i'm a very high risk pregnancy. >> like vanessa, jenny was also recently hospitalized. she says this doesn't feel much of a house to her either. >> it's life or death. i'm on a kidney transplant list now. but if i continue with the pregnancy, i'll get off the transplant list. i'm already sick. if i continue with the pregnancy, i would put my life at risk, and in the end the baby may not survive. >> all of jenny's doctors recommended termination. >> she did great. her procedure went very smoothly. she is getting cleaned up and going to recovery. >> the exceptions to the abortion ban in many of these states are confusing, vague, and true truly woefully inadequate

for how nuanced pregnancy conditions can be. >> if florida impose as six-week abortion ban, both of these women would have to get incredibly sick to qualify for exemption. they would have to be on the brink of death. back in texas, that's something alexandra refuses to let happen to her. up next, her heart wrenching journey, haugh way across the country to save her own life. for nourished, lightweight hair, the right ingredients make all the difference. new herbal essences sulfate free is now packed with plant-based ingredients your hair will love. like pure aloe and camellia flower oil. and none of the things it won't. hair feels deeply nourished, soft and lightweight. plant power you can feel.

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i'm peter dixon and in kenya... we built a hospital that provides maternal care. as a marine... we fought against the taliban and their crimes against women. and in hillary clinton's state department...

we took on gender-based violence in the congo. now extremists are banning abortion and contraception right here at home. so, i'm running for congress to help stop them. for your family... and mine. i approved this message because this is who we are.

well, our flight was pretty early in the morning for people that live two hours away. it means you have to get up at 3:30, 4:00, head to d-fw, get through security. >> this trip to washington, d.c. is one alexandra and her husband blake never thought they'd have to make. >> the flight was fairly easy. it was a two and a half, three-hour flight. so it's a good half day, more than half day travel. it lessened some anxiety getting oriented to our room that we'll be in for the next few days before having to start everything tomorrow morning. >> do you have your shoes on?

>> how concerning were the complications to your health, knowing that you were at risk? >> i was already bleeding. i woke up bleeding. i was bleeding more than normal. so if i -- i would say if i was at home and this was a normal pregnancy, i would have thought she's gone. that's how much blood was coming out. >> let's go. >> the d.c. clinic they chose specializes in abortions later in pregnancy. and because alexandra is so far along, the appointment will happen over two days. >> so we've been here about an hour. we've paid for the remainder of our appointment, our procedure, and given us some options for funeral services afterwards. they said i had been contracting as well, looked like i had been contracting. and she was like you have a very high risk of bleeding and hemorrhaging, and we don't want that.

i think that's it. >> so it's about 9:20, sitting in the waiting room. >> i've gotten my iv started. feeling a little bit nervous, but she's still kicking and we're just cherishing that. >> it's about 11:30 i think. she's very tired right now. she is sleeping, as you can tell. >> i surprised myself, you know. i thought i would be bawling my eyes out and just feeling horrible today. and i just feel at ease. i know she's not coming home with me, but i have pictures, and i have everything that i need. this is her hat that she had on while we were with her. it was actually too big for her,

actually. and then we got her little handprints and footprints. they were perfect. i love it. >> i guess it all hit me later after the fact. >> the clinic allowed the couple to spend that precious day there, to see and hold her daughter's body. for alexandra, it was relief. for blake, it was a heartbreaking hello and goodbye. >> i guess i was more sad just because it was like the first time i'm seeing but also the last time. >> i couldn't have done it without him. and there were times where he's comforted me for so long these past few weeks. and i think it was time for me to comfort him today.

i don't think i could have been able to have closure if i did not have this day with her. i'll always have her in my heart. i'll see her again. >> a month after the procedure, we caught up with alexandra down in texas. >> this one's name is jelly roll. >> jelly roll. >> and that's morgan >> talk to me about the first week being back home. >> throughout the whole process i clung to my son, because life is fragile. i just clung to him more. my milk came in. so i had a lot of time to get that. that was a big distraction, trying to pump every two hours. i wish we could have done it closer to home. i think i probably wouldn't have been so stressed out. >> will you try again? >> oh, definitely. we're definitely not going give up. >> you said you never thought about the word "abortion" before. you were against abortion.

>> yeah. >> why come forward and share your story? >> when i found out about my diagnosis, i was so scared to tell people what my options were. i had told somebody, and he is very hard-core republican. he was like i've never thought about that. you've changed my mind on it. and that is what got me. if i can get this man to change his mind on it, there's got to be more people that i can make a change for, people that want their babies and have to do it for something that is so unimaginable. i'm getting stronger where i can talk about it more. everybody has said i would have done the same thing. i would have done the same thing. you did the right thing. and that has given me a lot of, you know, hope that my story did change people's minds, and that they may possibly, you know, do something different. >> stay with us.

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