First Lady Pool Reports of June 20, 2023

FLOTUS POOL #1 -- About to Start

Hey all --

I'm your Pooler for the FLOTUS event marking the Dobbs decision. It will be livestreamed by the WH. We are in the Blue Room.

The FLOTUS team sends the below:

REPORTABLE BACKGROUND FROM THE OFFICE OF THE FIRST LADY

Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, First Lady Jill Biden will host a conversation at the White House with Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Gender Policy Council Jennifer Klein about the impact the Dobbs decision has had and will continue to have on women's health and lives. The First Lady and Jennifer Klein will meet with four women from across the country who have been denied essential medical care. The conversation will highlight their stories and the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to protecting access to reproductive health care.

Participants will include:

• First Lady Jill Biden
• Jen Klein, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Gender Policy Council
• Elizabeth Weller (TX)
• Anya Cook (FL)
• Dr. Austin Dennard (TX)
• Nancy Davis (LA)

One year after the Supreme Court decision to overturn?Roe v. Wade,?the White House will highlight the Biden-Harris Administration's fight to restore?Roe?and to protect access to reproductive health care.?

Last week, the White House convened more than 80 state legislators from 41 states who are on the frontlines of the fight for reproductive rights.??

Later this week, President Biden and Vice President Harris will address the current state of access to reproductive health care and the Administration's work to protect reproductive rights. In addition,?on Tuesday, June 20, Vice President Harris will sit down with MSNBC's Joy Reid for an exclusive televised roundtable discussion about the impact of the?Dobbs?decision on the American public and?on Saturday, June 24, Vice President Harris will deliver a major speech in Charlotte, North Carolina rallying supporters, advocates and community leaders.

The Biden-Harris Administrationstands with the vast majority of Americans who believe that the right to choose is fundamental and that health care decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor. In the year since the Dobbs decision, the Administration has taken action to protect access to reproductive health care, including to defend access to emergency medical care; strengthen privacy protections for patients and doctors; and ensure access to health care free from discrimination. The Administration will continue to call on Congress to pass a law restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade, the only way to secure access to abortion for women in every state.

Additional details on the women meeting with the First Lady and Jennifer Klein:

Anya Cook, Florida
After significant fertility struggles, Anya Cook faced life-threatening denials of care following a miscarriage. Anya experienced preterm pre-labor rupture of the membranes which can cause health- and life-threatening infection and hemorrhage. After her water broke at nearly 16 weeks, Cook went to the emergency room, but was sent home due to Florida's abortion ban. The next day, she miscarried, then was rushed to the hospital, losing half the blood in her body in the course of a day. Due to needed follow-up surgeries, she will have difficulty carrying a healthy pregnancy in the future. She and her husband want to get pregnant again, but worry about doing so in light of Florida's extreme laws on abortion.

Dr. Austin Dennard, Texas

Dr. Dennard, an OB/GYN, and her husband, who is also an OB/GYN, always wanted a third child. After a prior miscarriage, she was excited to be pregnant last summer. But, at 11 weeks into her pregnancy, Dr. Dennard found out that her baby had anencephaly—a condition that causes a baby to be born without parts of the brain and skull, and which she knew was not compatible with survival. Due to the three abortion bans in Texas, she was forced to travel out of state for abortion care. Dr. Dennard is now pregnant again.

Nancy Davis, Louisiana
Nancy Davis, a mother of three from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was 10 weeks pregnant when she found out her fetus had a condition called acrania, in which the skull does not develop. Despite her doctors confirming this was a fatal diagnosis and recommending pregnancy termination, they could not offer abortion care due to Louisiana's abortion ban. Instead of being able to receive the care she needed and grieve this loss while close to her family and friends, Nancy was forced to travel 1,400 miles to New York for care.

Elizabeth Weller, Texas

In May 2022, Elizabeth was 18 weeks pregnant with her first child when her water broke. She experienced preterm pre-labor rupture of the membranes prior to fetal viability. The hospital told her they were unable to intervene until they could no longer detect a fetal heartbeat or she developed a life-threatening uterine infection from the lack of amniotic fluid. Elizabeth returned home until her infection became severe enough that the hospital ethics panel allowed the procedure to proceed. At the time of Elizabeth's experience, the Dobbs decision hadn't yet been issued, but Texas already had a six-week abortion ban in effect as of September 2021.

FLOTUS pool #2 — event over

FLOTUS walked in at 3:52 and hugged all the women who are visiting.

The first who stood up went in for a hug, First Lady reciprocated and said "A hug! Right off the bat!"

Another said "I'm a hugger!"

Third said "we're all from the south" as the two hugged.

First lady did about short remarks

Said "Joe is doing everything he can do."

Implored congress to make Roe V Wade codified into law

One woman began crying. Dr. Biden grabbed her hand and the other on the other side and said "I can already feel the emotion" and thanked the women again for being here.

Jen Klein went first to moderate the convo.

Elizabeth from Texas went first. She choked up telling her story and the First Lady reached out and grabbed her hand to console her.

Anya from Florida, Nancy from Louisiana was next. After she went Dr. Biden said "so brave."

Jen Klein closed out with what the admin.

The pool was ushered out at 4:13. Dr. Biden ignored a shouted question about the plea deal struck for her son Hunter Biden.

Again, the event was live-streamed.