Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., claimed in an exclusive interview with Elle magazine that his then-wife underwent an abortion 30 years ago and she nearly died "based on politics."
Peters, 61, a first-term Democrat who is in a statistical tie with his Republican opponent John James for his seat, opposes the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace the deceased Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, fearing she would overturn or severely restrict the 1973 court ruling that created the right to an abortion, Elle reported.
The story described how in the late 1980s Peters' then-wife Heidi was in the fourth month of her pregnancy when her water broke, leaving the baby without amniotic fluid.
Peters said his wife was told go home and wait to miscarry. It did not happen and when she returned the following day, a faint heartbeat in the baby was detected. The doctor recommended an abortion because he said the child had no chance at survival, but hospital policy prohibited the procedure. The story did not identify the hospital.
After a second night without a miscarriage, the story claims Peters' wife health deteriorated.
"The doctor told her the situation was dire," the Elle story said. "She could lose her uterus in a matter of hours if she wasn't able to have an abortion, and if she became septic from the uterine infection, she could die."
The doctor appealed to the hospital board for an exception to the abortion policy but was denied.
"I still vividly remember he left a message on the answering machine saying, 'They refused to give me permission, not based on good medical practice, simply based on politics,'" Peters told the magazine. "'I recommend you immediately find another physician who can do this procedure quickly.'"
Peters' wife got to another hospital and had the abortion.
"If it weren't for urgent and critical medical care, I could have lost my life," Peters' former wife said in a statement quoted by the magazine.