A scan revealed that Samantha Casiano's unborn child had serious health detects and would not survive outside the womb for more than a few hours.

But with abortion now banned in Texas, Casiano was forced to carry the child to term, and then watch as her partner held their daughter in his arms as she died.

"She went from being warm to cold," Casiano, who is campaigning for a change in the law, told AFP.

"It was horrible because I wanted my daughter to rest in peace sooner rather than later, and we had to wait until she was born."

Casiano is among those bringing a lawsuit arguing that Texas's strict abortion ban prevents women from receiving the medical care they need.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the case, said the suit is the first brought on behalf of women denied abortions since the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to the procedure just over a year ago.

"We found out that my daughter had anencephaly (lacked parts of the brain and skull) and that she would surely pass away before or after birth," said Casiano, 29. 

"I hope that the law changes so other women don't have to go through what I went through, and other fathers don't have to see their child die in their hands."

- 'I nearly died' -

Her partner Luis Villasana, 25, said that the couple could have faced jail if they were caught leaving the state to seek an abortion, adding they also didn't have enough money to travel and had to care for their other four children.

"It's against the law," he said. "And then who's going to take care of the kids that we already have? It was just too much. We're trying to go on a straight path, we're trying to do right.

"My baby actually died in my arms. I held her the whole four hours.

"I even called the doctors and asked like, hey, can you check my baby's breathing because like, I feel like she's like, losing the heartbeat."

Casiano received a medical permit to work from home and give birth there, enduring weeks of congratulations and awkward questions about what plans she had for the baby as her pregnancy progressed.

This week she recounted her experience in front of a judge in Austin, facing questions from state lawyers who sought to dismiss the case. The Texas attorney general's office says the measures sought by the complaint would effectively nullify its abortion bans.

In court, Casiano broke down remembering what she went through, before vomiting and being taken to the bathroom.

Amanda Zurawski, the lead plaintiff in the case, also gave harrowing testimony on the witness stand about being denied an abortion after developing a condition that meant miscarriage was inevitable.

"When I needed an emergency abortion care while pregnant with my daughter Willow, I was forced to go home and wait," she told a news conference.

"I nearly died because of the state of Texas's inhumane abortion bans."

Another plaintiff Lauren Miller said "Samantha's daughter was gasping for air. Who would condemn that to anyone, much less a baby, that is just monstrous.

"We should not be torturing babies and calling it pro-life."

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