Two stomach churning stories from today:
Woman May Be Forced to Give Birth to a Headless Baby Because of an Abortion Ban$1:
It was at her first ultrasound that Nancy Davis said she learned there was no way the baby, about whom she’d once been so excited, would ever grow up.
“It was an abnormal ultrasound, and they noticed the top of the baby’s head was missing and the skull was missing, the top of the skull was missing,” Davis told local news outlet WAFB-9 in a story published Monday. “It’s hard, knowing that I’m carrying it to bury it, you know what I’m saying?”
Davis said she was 10 weeks into her pregnancy at the time of her ultrasound but is unable to get an abortion in her home state of Louisiana, thanks to the state’s near-total ban on the procedure. Her only options, she said, are to either carry the pregnancy to term or go out of state for an abortion.
In the weeks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion access has flickered in the state, as abortion-rights supporters have fought to keep the procedure legal. On Friday, however, Louisiana’s Supreme Court ruled to let the state’s near-total abortion ban remain in effect.
The ban does not have exceptions for abortions in cases of rape or incest. Abortions are now only permitted “to prevent the death or substantial risk of death due to a physical condition, or to prevent the serious, permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ of a pregnant woman.”
Earlier this month, the Louisiana Department of Health released a list of medical conditions that would make a pregnancy “medically futile” and clear the way for a pregnant person to get an abortion. At the time, medical professionals criticized the list as incomplete.
“I can already see things are missing on this,” Dr. Rebekah Gee, an OB-GYN and the former Louisiana secretary of health, told Nola.com. “I can name one, and I’ve just looked at this list for 30 seconds.”
Davis told WAFB-9 that her pregnancy has been impacted by a condition known as acrania. It is not explicitly mentioned on the Department of Health’s list, although that list does include a broad exception for other types of anomalies—as long as two physicians deem that anomaly valid.
Several other states have also now implemented abortion bans that include exemptions for medical emergencies—but these bans often have differing, nuanced language that, doctors have told VICE News, fails to take into account the complexity of pregnancy and the medical conditions that can affect it. These kinds of bans can leave doctors flailing, unsure of what their legal risks are or how to care for patients in crisis.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4ax38w/louisiana-woman-headless-fetus-abortion-banAlso:
Florida court says teen is not 'mature' enough to have an abortion$1:
A pregnant and parentless 16-year-old in Florida may be forced to give birth after an appeals court ruled she was not “sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy.”
The teenager, who is identified in court papers as Jane Doe 22-B, was appealing a decision by Circuit Judge Jennifer Frydrychowicz on Aug. 10 that blocked her from having an abortion without the consent of a parent or guardian, as required by Florida law.
At the time, the teenager was 10 weeks pregnant, the court papers state.
But the three-judge panel of the state's 1st District Court of Appeal, which covers northern Florida, sided Monday, for the most part, with Frydrychowicz.
The teenager "had not established by clear and convincing evidence that she was sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy,” the ruling by Judges Harvey Jay, Rachel Nordby and Scott Makar, states. “Having reviewed the record, we affirm the trial court’s decision under the deferential standard of appellate review set out (in the consent law).”
Dissenting from the other judges, however, Makar wrote that the appeals court should send the case back to Frydrychowicz for the possibility of further consideration.
“The trial judge apparently sees this matter as a very close call, finding that the minor was 'credible,' 'open' with the judge, and nonevasive," Makar wrote. “The trial judge must have been contemplating that the minor — who was 10 weeks pregnant at the time — would potentially be returning before long — given the statutory time constraints at play — to shore up any lingering doubt the trial court harbored.”
Makar noted that the teenager is “parentless,” lives with a relative, but also has an appointed guardian. She was also savvy enough to do Google searches "to gain an understanding about her medical options and their consequences."
“She is pursuing a GED with involvement in a program designed to assist young women who have experienced trauma in their lives by providing educational support and counseling,” Makar wrote. “The minor experienced renewed trauma (the death of a friend) shortly before she decided to seek termination of her pregnancy.”
Makar also noted that in her petition, which "she completed by hand," the teenager insisted "she is sufficiently mature to make the decision, saying she 'is not ready to have a baby,' she doesn’t have a job, she is 'still in school,' and the father is unable to assist her."
The "guardian is fine with what [she] wants to do" the teenager claimed, according to Makar.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-court-says-teen-not-mature-enough-abortion-rcna43344Right-wing logic at it's most pure. A 16 isn't mature enough for an abortion, but mature enough to raise a child.
Monsters.
CKA Moderator 
CKA Uber 
