What can occur in a state with strict abortion legal guidelines : NPR

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Let’s flip now to the story of a funeral in Texas. And a warning – it includes the loss of a kid. The child’s identify was Halo. She was born final week. She solely lived for 4 hours. Her mother and father knew she wouldn’t stay lengthy as a result of she had been recognized with a deadly situation in utero. And this household’s state of affairs unfolded in a state with strict abortion legal guidelines, which is related right here, as NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin is about to elucidate. Hey, Selena.

SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE: Hello, Mary Louise.

KELLY: All proper. Inform me about Halo’s mom. You spoke along with her final week. Who’s she?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yeah. Her identify is Samantha Casiano, and she or he’s 29. She and her husband, Luis Villasana, are elevating 5 youngsters of their cellular dwelling in East Texas. And in December, when she was 20 weeks pregnant, she was at a prenatal appointment when she discovered that the fetus she was carrying had anencephaly, which implies that the mind and cranium have been solely partially developed. Her OB-GYN informed her the fetus was incompatible with life. This is Samantha.

SAMANTHA CASIANO: After which I requested her, you already know, hey; what are my choices? And she or he says, effectively, due to the brand new regulation, you have no choices. You need to go on along with your being pregnant.

KELLY: The brand new regulation being the brand new abortion regulation in Texas. And there are not any exceptions for a case like hers.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: No, not in Texas. And actually, only a few states that prohibit abortion do have exceptions for fetal anomalies. So for those who’re on this state of affairs in Texas, one choice is to journey out of state for an abortion. I reported in February a few girl who did that. She flew to Colorado. She mentioned it value over $3,000. And Samantha and Luis did not have these sorts of financial savings, so they might have needed to drive 12 hours to get to New Mexico. They could not organize baby care. So she braced herself for 5 extra months of being pregnant.

KELLY: 5 months. God, how did she cope throughout that point?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Oh, she says these months have been terrible. She has an workplace job and began working remotely so she did not have to reply to folks saying, how far alongside are you? And it was additionally painful to go to her medical doctors appointments and see different pregnant girls there. Right here she is.

CASIANO: I positively really feel like, you already know, at – once we discovered she had anencephaly, I ought to have had that selection, that proper over my very own physique and over my daughter’s physique, to have the ability to inform my daughter, it is time so that you can relaxation, as a result of she was going to finish up having to relaxation anyhow.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: She spent months fundraising for the funeral. She was quoted $4,000. A nonprofit known as First Contact Household additionally helped her fundraise, however she did not have as a lot time to get cash collectively as she anticipated as a result of the infant was born final week, two months early, on March 29. And right now the household had a small graveside service and buried the infant lady they named Halo.

KELLY: At this time. Oh. Selena, does Texas present any public assist for households like hers?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: No, and that is one thing Molly Duane identified once I spoke to her. She’s an lawyer with the Heart for Reproductive Rights. Texas leaves folks to cope with the private and monetary fallout after they have a being pregnant like this, Duane says.

MOLLY DUANE: The place is the state of Texas to offer the protection web for her after forcing her to offer start to a toddler that did not survive and by no means would?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: I additionally spoke to Amy O’Donnell. She’s with the Texas Alliance for Life, and she or he informed me she doesn’t assist including extra exceptions to Texas’ abortion legal guidelines.

AMY O’DONNELL: I do imagine the Texas legal guidelines are working as designed. I additionally imagine that we’ve a duty to coach Texas girls and households on the sources that we’ve obtainable to them.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: She says there are personal organizations that may assist with funerals, and her group would assist public funds getting used for that, too. Samantha and her household are getting some further assist. Since NPR printed her story yesterday, many individuals have been moved to donate to her funeral fundraising web page, they usually’ve now donated $30,000 and counting.

KELLY: NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin. Thanks.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Thanks.

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