Nancy Davis, Louisiana woman denied abortion despite fetus not having a skull (Acrania) | Lashaun Turner | NewsBreak Original
A pregnant woman has been denied an abortion under new state legislation post Roe V. Wade despite fetus having fatal condition.
Davis’s fetus is diagnosed with Acrania, a rare fetal abnormality that is characterized by the complete or partial absence of skull bones surrounding the fetal brain. The condition is uniformly 100% lethal.
Davis, who learned of the diagnosis around 10 weeks of pregnancy, was encouraged to seek an abortion. After Davis agreed to the procedure, she would eventually be denied it due to the fetus still having a heartbeat.
Ms. Davis, 36, who is now almost 14 weeks pregnant has hired attorney Ben Crump. According to Crump, Ms. Davis is now forced to travel to another state to get an abortion and since the procedure would not be covered by Medicaid, Davis is starting a GoFundMe account to cover the cost.
“Ms. Nancy Davis was put in a horrifically cruel position by the State of Louisiana, left with only two choices: to carry the fetus until its inevitable death, or to travel to another state to end the pregnancy weeks after she made the incredibly painful decision to do so. Regardless of what Louisiana lawmakers claim, the law is having its intended effect, causing doctors to refuse to perform abortions even when they are medically necessary out of fear of losing their medical licenses or facing criminal charges,” Crump said in a statement.
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe V. Wade in June, states have implemented their own trigger laws regarding abortion. Some have near complete bans with narrow exceptions based on maternal health or fetal medical conditions deemed to be fatal.
Louisiana’s abortion ban exception list (source) includes:
- achondrogenesis
- anencephaly
- acardia
- body stalk anomaly
- campomelic dysplasia
- craniorachischisis
- dysencephalia splanchnocystica (Meckel-Gruber syndrome)
- ectopia cordis
- exencephaly
- gestational trophoblastic neoplasia
- holoprosencephaly
- hydrops fetalis
- iniencephaly
- perinatal hypophosphatasia
- osteogenesis imperfecta (type 2)
- renal agenesis (bilateral)
- short rib polydactyly syndrome
- sirenomelia
- thanatophoric dysplasia
- triploidy
- trisomy 13
- trisomy 16 (full)
- trisomy 18
- trisomy 22
The lack of specifically listing Acrania as one of the exceptions in Louisiana’s abortion law, may be preventing Ms. Davis’s abortion.
Provisions in the statutes do however allow two physicians that are licensed to practice in the State of Louisiana to determine if an unborn child has a congenital anomaly incompatible with life after birth in reasonable medical judgment. In that case the physicians can certify the abortion is needed.
Originally published at https://original.newsbreak.com.
