How Amanda Zurawski has fought for women's reproductive health care in Texas

Amanda Zurawski is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.

After her water broke 18 weeks into her pregnancy in August 2022, doctors told Amanda Zurawski there were only two ways that the pregnancy she and her husband desperately wanted would end: miscarriage or infection. Texas allows abortion only when the mother's life is at risk, so terminating was not an option.

She sat with that knowledge for three days and ended up in a hospital bed in Austin, recovering from a near-fatal case of septic shock.

Losing the baby, who was going to be named Willow, was her "lowest moment," but her determination to prevent what happened to her from happening again led to her proudest: standing outside of the Texas Supreme Court alongside fellow plaintiffs in Zurawski v. Texas, the first patient-led case to challenge a state over abortion bans in post-Roe America.

A total of 20 women and two OB-GYNs have become plaintiffs since the lawsuit, which demands the state issue clearer guidance about medical exceptions, was filed in March 2023. A decision is still pending.

"(Amanda) being willing to step up and say, 'I want to make a change' ... it gives us all strength," fellow plaintiff Taylor Edwards said.

Lawsuits similar to Zurawski v. Texas have followed in Idaho, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The lawsuit also set the stage for Dallas mother of two Kate Cox to test the limits of Texas' abortion ban, leading the state Supreme Court to clarify some aspects of the law, including by stating that a woman's death need not be "imminent" for the exception to apply.

While working full time, Zurawski, 36, has continued to bring attention to cases in which the narrow abortion ban exceptions leave doctors unable to care for patients facing severe and, in some cases, life-threatening pregnancy complications.

More: See more of the USA TODAY'S Women of the Year

Zurawski might also have helped improve legislation. In June, state lawmakers provided legal cover for doctors handling cases exactly like hers.

“Amanda is changing the way people think about abortion," said Molly Duane, a lawyer for the Center for Reproductive Rights who represents Zurawski and the other plaintiffs. Sharing her personal trauma publicly took a lot of strength, and it has inspired other women to do the same."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Whom did you pave the way for?

That's a very humbling question. It's pretty wild to think about, but I think I did pave the way for everyone else who joined my lawsuit, all of my fellow plaintiffs. And there's a lot of action being taken in other states too, so folks who've had similar experiences, whether they're just volunteering for abortion access groups, or whether they're donating their time or money, or whether they're filing their own lawsuits or taking their own legal action, I think somebody had to be the first person to do that.

What is your proudest moment?

What pops to my head immediately is, after the Texas Supreme Court hearing, when I stood up behind Molly, our lawyer, at the press conference and I looked to my left and I looked to my right, and it was just like an army of women with my fellow plaintiffs. And it just struck me how it started with me being like, “Am I going to do this thing? Am I going to sue the state of Texas? This is wild.” And then there were a few more of us, then a few more, and a few more, and just seeing how much the case had grown and how many people who — to reference your question earlier — I paved the way for or I encouraged or I helped inspire, that was pretty humbling and pretty moving.

What was your lowest moment?

My lowest moment was losing Willow. No question.

Is there a guiding principle or mantra you tell yourself?

I don't know that I have a guiding principle or a mantra, but I do try to remind myself every day that life is a journey and to enjoy the ride. I spent so much of my life making plans and mapping out exactly what it was going to look like and then getting disappointed if it didn't go as I thought it would. And what I've learned — really, in the last year and a half — is that this is a beautiful ride. I have no idea what's around the corner. But I tell myself to enjoy it. Life is short, and you can find beauty and joy and happiness in anything. I think you just have to choose joy.

What motivates you to keep going, despite setbacks?

Staying motivated is actually very easy, because every time there's an update with the case or a landmark or something like that, I hear from tons and tons of people, either telling me their stories or thanking us for what we're doing. So I feel like I'm carrying all of their strength with me. And even though it's my name, and I'm being honored, it's not really just me. It's all my fellow plaintiffs. It's all of the people in Texas and in other states who are taking action, and I really feel their strength. That keeps me going.

Could you tell me more about your goals beyond the lawsuit?

The best advice my mom ever gave me is to eat an elephant one bite at a time, and so we just have to keep chipping away. This is going to be a long fight; it's not going to happen overnight. And I think we just have to keep the messaging, we have to keep telling our stories, we have to keep it in people's minds because we're removing the stigma, we're normalizing health care, which is what abortions are. The more we talk about it, it's changing people's hearts and minds, which is going to change their votes, which is going to change our elected officials, and hopefully, it will change policy, too. It's just one bite at a time.

Whom do you look up to?

I’m very fortunate to have a lot of excellent role models in my life and within my family, but I definitely look up to my sister, who’s six years older than me. She handles adversity with such grace and composure and a positive attitude, and it just astounds me. She is unflappable, and it's really remarkable — when she's faced with a challenge, she takes it head-on, and she just does it with such elegance.

How has participating in the lawsuit against the state and becoming an activist changed you?

I'm a completely different person today than I was a year and a half ago. I just feel such a sense of purpose now that I never had before. This is my torch now. I always knew that I wanted to somehow leave the world different than I found it. I wanted to make a difference, but this isn't what I would have expected if you would have asked me five years ago — I probably would have said something about climate change or animal rights — but this is the hand that life dealt me. And so I'm going to take it, and I'm going to run with it, and I'm not going to stop until things change.

American-Statesman staff writer Bridget Grumet contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Amanda Zurawski is USA TODAY's Women of the Year honoree for Texas