Danielle Mathisen, formerly from Fort Worth, realized she wanted to be an OB-GYN after delivering her first baby in medical school. Upon starting her fourth year, Danielle and her high school sweetheart husband were thrilled to learn they were pregnant just as planned around Danielle’s rigorous training schedule. However, at the 18-week anatomy scan in September 2021, Danielle quickly realized something was wrong as she knew what a normal ultrasound looked like. The baby girl they playfully called “Mini” had numerous malformations that were incompatible with life, including a hole in her spine, only one kidney, and a severely malformed brain. However, due to the passage of Texas law just weeks prior, Danielle could not terminate her pregnancy in Texas nor could her OB-GYN aunt openly provide her medical advice due to the law’s “aiding and abetting” provision. Less than 24 hours after receiving the devastating news, Danielle and her husband flew to a clinic in New Mexico that was holding appointments open for Texas women. On the flight back home, Danielle submitted her OB-GYN residency applications – she felt so let down by Texas that she decided to seek OB-GYN training out of state instead of following in her family’s footsteps of practicing medicine in Texas like she’d always dreamed.
Danielle now lives in Hawaii where she can legally provide patients facing similar diagnoses comprehensive advice and termination care. Pregnant with another daughter, Danielle hopes for the day she can move back to Texas to be with family and practice evidence-based care, but will not return until Texas law is amended to safeguard the health and wellbeing of mothers.