A Louisiana woman is being forced to carry her headless fetus, thanks to the state's near-total abortion ban.
Nancy Davis of Baton Rouge told news station WAFB that she was denied an abortion in her home state even after her 10-week scan showed her baby would never survive outside the womb.
“It’s hard knowing that … you know I’m carrying it to bury it … you know what I’m saying,” the mother, who is now 13 weeks pregnant, told the outlet.
Prior to her ultrasound, Davis said that she and her boyfriend were thrilled to learn about the pregnancy. But their hearts broke when they learned their child would never have a chance at survival. “It was an abnormal ultrasound,” Davis explained, “and they noticed the top of the baby’s head was missing and the skull was missing, the top of the skull was missing,” she explained.
Of course, she and her partner wanted to terminate the pregnancy, saving them from any further heartache and potential negative health effects. But she was denied an abortion regardless of the fetus being diagnosed with acrania, a rare and fatal condition that causes the skull not to form properly. In most cases, babies with the condition survive for a matter of minutes once born.
Davis' life isn't in immediate danger, however. That means it doesn't fall under the Louisiana Department of Health’s list of conditions, which the state released earlier this month, that would qualify her for an abortion.
So for now, Davis, already a mother to one healthy child, is faced with a near-impossible decision.
She will either have to carry the fetus with no chance for survival to term, as her state dictates, or she will have to cross state lines to get an abortion. “Florida is the closest … so ideally Florida. But then the next closest place would be North Carolina or something,” she said.
She then may have to think about whether there will be any legal repercussions for getting an abortion outside her home state.
At this point, Davis is in a truly unthinkable position. That's especially true because she has to make a decision quickly. Many other states have 15-week abortion bans, so her timeframe is rapidly disappearing. She feels that lawmakers just aren't considering cases like hers. “I just want them to consider special circumstances as it relates to abortion … medical problems, like this is one that needs to be in that,” said Davis.
