As the nation grappled with the radically redrawn landscape of reproductive rights after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, Eleanor Klibanoff focused on examining the real lives of pregnant women, new mothers and the children they bring into this world. We believe in earning deep trust and telling nuanced stories. In this case, by telling the story of a mother forced by the state to give birth.
After reading Klibanoff’s story about a historic court hearing in which women sobbed and vomited on the witness stand while describing being denied medically necessary abortions, another young East Texas mother, Miranda Michel, reached out. She was carrying twins that wouldn’t survive after birth and was unable to have an abortion, by dint of law, geography and poverty.
Michel allowed Klibanoff to follow her throughout the experience, including at the hospital after she delivered her conjoined twins, who died soon after birth, and the funeral where they were laid to rest. Klibanoff built a relationship with the whole family, allowing readers to understand the impact this doomed pregnancy had on a community.
