welcome back. i m melissa harris-perry. a new report by msnbc national reporter tells the story of 23-year-old jessica davis. jessica and her husband, eric, have three children and jessica was in the 20th week of pregnancy with their fourth child when she discovered that the fetus she was carry, a son, had severe brain malformation. her doctors told her it was unlikely her son would survive birth and nearly impossible he would reach his first birthday. it s the kind of tragic news no parent want ts to hear but it w compounded for jessica and eric because they live in oklahoma. and because they are poor. jessica, already a mother of three, knew she did not want to let her son suffer so she sought an abortion. but because she lives in oklahoma, shi had to endure a three-day ordeal that required her to cross state lines because in 2010 former congresswoman mary fallon was elected governor of oklahoma and her victory gave
republicans complete control over oklahoma s legislature. since then, at least 16 bills imposing restrictions on reproductive rights have been passed in oklahoma including a bill that makes it a felony for doctors to perform abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. for jessica and eric, such laws meant that to access an abortion they had to pack up their three young kids into a rental car, drive to dallas, live on ramen noodles and microwaved popcorn in a motel room. of course that was until the money ran out. and then the five of them slept hungry in the car while jessica recovered from the procedure. at least one republican lawmaker in oklahoma sees this reality as a problem. representative doug cox, who is also a medical doctor, personally chooses not to perform abortions but he did say, as a physician i don t want to go back to seeing women coming in with a perforated uterus or coat hanger or somebody doing an abortion who doesn t know how to do it. the story of jessica and eric is