A Louisiana mother said she was denied an abortion even though doctors told her that her baby had a rare birth defect and would not survive.
Nancy Davis said she found out 10 weeks into her pregnancy that her unborn child had a condition called Acrania, where the fetus’ skull does not form inside the womb. The Fetal Medicine Foundation said a baby born with this “lethal condition” does not survive past the first week.
Davis’ doctors advised that she get an abortion, she said at a news conference Friday. But her doctors said they would not able to perform the procedure because of the state’s ban on abortions.
“Basically they said I had to carry my baby to bury my baby,” said Davis, who is about 16 weeks now.
“This is not fair to me and it should not happen to any other woman. This has truly been an emotional roller coaster.”
Louisiana’s trigger law making abortions illegal went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. The law has since been challenged in court for being “unconstitutional” and “vague.”
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Davis, slammed state legislators and said the ban puts his client at risk.
“Thanks to the actions of the Louisiana legislator, Ms. Davis was left without medical care to do what doctors said needed to be done, end the pregnancy. By imposing themselves between Ms. Davis and her doctors, Louisiana lawmakers inflicted unspeakable pain, emotional damage, and physical risk upon this beautiful mother,” he said. “They replaced care with confusion. Privacy with politics. Options with ideology.”
Crump said the position Davis is in is “inhumane.”
Attorney Carol Powell Lexing said the state “has placed a burden on the back of Ms. Davis and other women” who seek abortions for medical reasons.
“It’s just so unfair,” she said at the news conference. “It’s horrific.”
Davis, who has three children, said she will travel to another state next week to have the procedure done.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
