Last summer, a Senator from Texas caught the nation's attention and made headlines when she stood for 11 hours in pink tennis shoes filibustering a 20-week abortion ban in Texas. Now, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis has revealed in her upcoming memoir Forgetting To Be Afraid that abortion is also a personal issue for her.
Davis, who is also a mother of two, had previously discussed her ectopic pregnancy — which some consider an abortion. She has previously said that she was "heartbroken" after terminating the pregnancy.
But in her upcoming memoir, the 51-year-old goes into detail about her third pregnancy, which she and her husband decided to terminate in 1997 due to complications. The fetus had an acute brain abnormality, which doctors said would have "caused the baby to suffer and likely was incompatible with life."
San Antonio Express-News detailed parts of the memoir:
After getting several medical opinions and feeling the baby they had named Tate Elise "tremble violently, as if someone were applying an electric shock to her" in the womb, she said the decision was clear.
"She was suffering," Davis wrote.
The unborn baby's heart was "quieted" by her doctor, and their baby was gone.
Davis championed abortion rights during her time in the Texas senate, and thousands live-streamed her filibuster online. Even President Obama chimed in:
Something special is happening in Austin tonight: http://t.co/RpbnCbO6zw #StandWithWendy
Access to reproductive healthcare is also a major issue in Davis' bid for governor. Her opponent in the gubernatorial race is anti-choice Republican Greg Abbott, who has attacked Davis' platform, saying: "The person who led the fight for late-term abortion is now running to govern this great state."
BuzzFeed has reached out to Davis for comment.