Louisiana Woman FORCED To Carry Skull-less Fetus To Term. Your thoughts?

Question

A woman in Louisiana said that she has been told that she must carry a fetus without a skull and part of its head to term or travel out of state to receive an abortion.

Nancy Davis, a mother of one, is 13 weeks pregnant. Several weeks ago, an initial ultrasound revealed to Ms Davis that the fetus would have no chance of surviving — but because Louisiana’s abortion ban does not include an exception for acrania, the condition the fetus is suffering from, she cannot get a legal abortion in the state.

If Ms Davis does want to get an abortion, she will have to travel out of state to Florida. But time is running out for her to make a decision: Florida has banned abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, giving Ms Davis a small window to schedule an appointment and arrange her travel should she decide to get the procedure.

Louisiana is among the Republican-led states that passed extremely restrictive abortion bans to take effect in a post-Roe v Wade landscape. The state has banned all abortions except for cases in which the mother’s life is in jeopardy or in some cases in which the fetus is nonviable.

A group of plaintiffs filed a lawsuit to stop the ban from taking effect, but the Louisiana Supreme Court last Friday rejected their appeal. That has left Ms Davis with an extremely limited set of options in trying circumstances — and Ms Davis isn’t the only person who has dealt with similar circumstances in recent weeks.

A New Orleans doctor, Valerie Williams, testified in an affidavit that she was prevented from giving a patient an abortion even though they were carrying a nonviable fetus. Ms Williams testified that the patient was “screaming — not from pain, but from the emotional trauma she was experiencing.”

Jezebel reported that the woman eventually delivered after hours, losing a liter of blood in the process...

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/louisiana-woman-headless-fetus-abortion-florida-b2146452.html

whirled_up_girl · Accepted Answer

It's an unfortunate consequence of these bans, they take medical decisions away from doctors and patients. Even though most of us can see why abortion would be necessary in this situation and others, these legislators who vote for these bans seem to live in a fairytale world where these kinds of complications in pregnancies don't happen or they lay out the exceptions but there are too many variables and gray areas in medicine to ever be able to list every possible exception. Working as a hospital nurse has taught me that. These legislators and their staunch supporters think they are saving lives by forcing women to be pregnant and give birth but with these bans, they will be harming women and possibly killing women who might have wanted to remain pregnant but because of an unforeseen circumstance in their pregnancy, they might have to carry a nonviable fetus and face at the very least the standard risks that go along with pregnancy and labor. Also, I see comments saying "why doesn't she just travel" but honestly why should she have to travel? What if she doesn't have the money to travel or she could have other family obligations that would make that difficult? Also, some jobs don't give extended paid time off, even for medical reasons, all FMLA does is protect you from losing your job, it doesn't guarantee anyone paid time. Think of how many women living in impoverished situations could have a similar diagnosis living in these states.

For the record, I am prochoice I believe in a woman's right to choose but I also know that even if I were against choice in so-called elective abortions (most women I know who have had these types didn't feel like they had much of a choice for their reasons) I know there are situations where nature has started to decide for the patient. In these instances, only medical professionals can resolve these situations safely which is why I oppose bans with limited exceptions.

Sorry, for my rant but I have been reading about so many of these unintended consequences in real-time in these states that have bans and heavy restrictions.

Dazed0N0Confused · Accepted Answer

This is fucked up. The GOP don't give a fuck about what they're doing. They'd rather women die, get very sick, or go through emotional trauma, than allow abortion.

We should put abortion on the ballot & not make laws regarding medical care before the people vote on it.

I'm a firm believer that if we're going to regulate women's bodies to this extreme, we should be doing the same to men's bodies, as having unprotected sex as a heterosexual is the leading cause of unwanted pregnancy.
1. All alleged, yes ALLEGED, rapists/sexual offenders should be chemically castrated.
2. Every man should be legally & financially responsible for both mother & child the minute he helps conceive the fetus.
3. Every man should donate to a sperm bank & then get a vasectomy, when he & his partner are ready to conceive a child, they can go & "checkout" the specified sperm donation. This will help prevent unwanted pregnancy.

But, you know, "regulating men's bodies is wrong"... hypocrites.

CrazyGirl2 · Answer

I searched for actual reporting on this from Louisiana, rather than an English news agrigator’s source which I do not know or trust. I found it… This is a ridiculous law! They actually have an exception for “medically futile” pregnancies, but then they went and actually LISTED the specific diagnoses that a fetus must have befor they meet the criteria for abortion, and they just forgot to add Acrania (medical terminology for when the skull fails to form inutero ) The baby is not headless, it has a head, but the bones in the skull failed to form properly, and the baby will either be stillborn, or die minutes to as much as HOURS of terrible suffering later! We would never allow dogs to be deliberately allowed to suffer like this! This is a ridiculous oversight that the legislature did not think to put in the law. The law is poorly written, overly specific, and doesn’t include anywhere for the medical staff to swear an affidavit to an emergency judge, that the fetus is NOT viable and allow for the abortion to continue! How anyone can be THAT arrogant to think they thought of everything when it comes to doctors, medicine, and fetal malformations? My god to see this woman being interviewed… it’s heartbreaking! She doesn’t WANT an abortion, she and her boyfriend were very excited about becoming parents, they didn’t want this! This is a terrible law! Original reportage from WFAB Baton Rouge:

RedStiletto88 · Answer

Omg this is awful and she should have access to an abortion provider!

I am soo glad I don’t live in a state where my life might be at risk because religious nuts want to control my body but omg I feel soo awful for the women in states like that and hope those states come to their senses and fast !!

AngelLily · Answer

If the Child has already died in the womb then that wouldn’t make sense for them to make her wait at that point it wouldn’t even be an abortion because the pregnancy is pretty much already dead. But if the child was alive then they had to do what they had to do unfortunately the child did not survive but Fortunately for some who are very disabled they can still live till a point.

Staximus · Answer

These kind of abortions should always be legal. "Several weeks ago, an initial ultrasound revealed to Ms Davis that the fetus would have no chance of surviving" She had several weeks to get in the car and start driving. I know everybody can't just stop what they are doing but it was several weeks.

FilmGuy93 · Answer

I’m gonna save my opinion for after I’ve done research on this story. At this point I smell bullshit though

Cherry234 · Answer

This is awful. This is why abortion needs to be legal during all stages of pregnancy (with exceptions like this circumstance for late term abortions).

letuswaltzforthedead · Answer

Her body is likely to miscarry it, no baby survives that. Even if they're born alive, they'll die soon after. That sounds like frankly a tremendously traumatic experience for someone to live through, knowing there isn't much that she can do.

Ill_made_Knight · Answer

NEVER EVER forget that the same people that claimed universal health care would result in death panels are the very ones administering atrocities like this. Unacceptable.

Apple1996 · Answer

Really fucked up. She probably just needs to ditch the Florida plan and travel to NC. Abortion is still legal here up to 20 weeks.

Wade12345 · Answer

This is why I actually DO and WOULD make an except for real, ridiculously bad deformities. If the child is better off dead, then they're better off dead.

acooke-13 · Answer

This is why abortion shouldn't be illegal, complications of pregnancies such as the above can be life threatening to the mother. The USA, is backwards.

BlueScorpio · Answer

If the child has a severe birth defect or abnormalities such as this, then I think there should be an exception. I'm still very much against aborting perfectly healthy babies though.

petitedollbabee · Answer

My faith in humanity, especially in the states that banned abortion, remains dead.

Blackcosmo · Answer

That's so dangerous. In this situation abortion should be allowed.

John_Doesnt · Answer

People who have no idea how pregnancy works made a law that restricts how people are allowed to treat their pregnancies. You are not in a "free country" when over half the population is forced to make a choice they never wanted.

GoodGuyBreakingBad · Answer

Pretty bad that the government controls a woman's right to have an abortion when seriously needing one.

imfreeze95 · Answer

I’m a Republican I’m a conservative I am pro life in 99.99% of the cases

This case is.01% of the time where I believe it’s tragic but necessary.

This is insane and inhuman to let a child suffer like this

call_me_scar · Answer

Saw secular talks video the other day about this and i couldn't finish it because it got me that pissed

Likes2drive · Answer

It really amazes me how women have no say on what goes on in their body anymore in some states even though it’s going to be a stillborn birth

AndrésC64 · Answer

Typical Southern Bible Belt Republican family values. 🙄

Louisiana Woman FORCED To Carry Skull-less Fetus To Term. Your thoughts?

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