A woman who says doctors refused to provide an abortion despite her fetus not having a skull is calling on lawmakers to change the law.
Nancy Davis says doctors told her her baby suffers from acrania, a condition in which the fetus has no skull and will die minutes after birth. However, Davis says doctors told her she could not get an abortion because her life is not in danger and because acrania is not on the Department of Health's list of medically futile conditions.
"The doctors told me that my baby would die shortly after birth," Davis said Friday during a news conference on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol, flanked by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. "They told me that I should terminate the pregnancy. Because of the state of Louisiana's abortion ban, they could not perform the procedure. Basically, they said I had to carry my baby to bury my baby."
Davis and Crump both said they support the current lawsuit seeking to invalidate the state's abortion law. However, neither said if they would file their own lawsuit. Davis and Crump both called on Governor John Bel Edwards or state lawmakers to call a special legislative session to clarify the abortion laws they say are as "clear as mud."
"(The doctors) seemed confused about the law and afraid of what would happen to them if they performed an illegal abortion according to the law," Davis said of her experience at a Baton Rouge hospital.
Several lawmakers have signed a letter saying they believe the law allows abortions in Davis's case. Still, Loyola law professor Dane Ciolino says the state legislature would need to tweak the law to make certain that this case is covered under it.
"Any problems with this statue need to be addressed in the legislature," Ciolino said. "The legislature and the governor need to address problems as they arise, and they will arise. This is a shifting legislative and regula tory landscape. Problems, I think, and tweaks are to be expected."
Furthermore, Ciolino says clarifying the law would be a good political move on the legislature's part.
"Given the apparent severity of the problem, it doesn't seem like a bad idea from a legislative and political standpoint, but from a legal standpoint, that's certainly the only way to fix this perceived problem with the law," Ciolino said.
Meanwhile, Davis says she's preparing to go out of state to end her pregnancy.
"This is not fair to me, and this should not happen to any other woman," Davis said.
