Amy Brown, wife of GOP Senate candidate Sam Brown, opens up about her abortion for the first time publicly

HENDERSON, Nev. — Amy Brown was a single, ambitious 24-year-old in 2008, a time when she felt invincible.

She was striving to become an Army dietician while stationed at a San Antonio medical center and was on the cusp of completing an internship to land a full-time job. That’s when she found out something that turned her world upside down: She was pregnant.

She didn’t want to believe it.

She initially panicked, then felt racked with guilt and fear of disappointing others because of the unplanned pregnancy, despite using birth control. She went to two health providers. All along, she felt that the forces in her life — from the people around her, including in her medical visits, to her own fears that she would close off parts of her future — pressed her toward terminating the pregnancy.

“I just felt this immense amount of pressure that I had to do it. I felt all alone. I felt really overwhelmed, and I also felt a lot of shame,” said a tearful Amy Brown, the wife of Nevada Senate GOP candidate Sam Brown, in an exclusive sit-down interview with NBC News. “In that moment, I felt like my back was against a wall, and the walls were closing in, and I had one door out — and so I pursued that door.”

At 5 ½ weeks pregnant, Amy Brown had an abortion. It would set off a yearslong journey of anguish and healing, an experience she said helped her feel for women who have unwanted pregnancies and for those who have had an abortion and may be struggling with the emotional aftermath.

“I got to a very dark place and I remember being in my room and crying out: ‘God help me,’” she said.

She had to return to work the Monday after the abortion, trying to bury what had just happened. That’s when she saw a severely injured patient who was