Birthright begins with trauma. The Deavers, a married couple living in Nebraska, were excited to expand their family, but a medical emergency ruined their happy ending when Danielle’s water broke at 22 weeks. Her membranes ruptured, leaving her fetus with less than a 10 percent chance of being born alive and putting her own life in immediate danger. The couple wanted to induce their labor, but their doctor refused because the Nebraska legislature passed a law that forbids medical professionals from doing anything after 20 weeks that could result in a fetus’s death. Although the Deavers didn’t want to terminate their fetus, they were swept up in archaic, inane “abortion ban” laws designed to make life a living hell for women.
