Louisiana Woman Carrying SKULL-LESS Fetus Had To Go To New York For Abortion
The fight over abortion.
Sep. 14 2022, Published 10:11 a.m. ET
A Louisiana woman carrying a skull-less fetus had to travel approximately 1,400 miles to get an abortion in New York because of the overturn of Roe v. Wade, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Nancy Davis, 36, who was carrying a fetus that would die shortly after birth, had to go out of state to get the termination because of uncertainty over abortion laws in her home state of Louisiana.
Davis had the procedure done Sept. 1 in Manhattan, a long way from her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a state that's outlawed abortion aside from a few exceptions. New York is among U.S. states where abortion is still legal.
Davis found out in July, when she was about 10 weeks pregnant, that the fetus was missing the top of its skull, a rare, fatal condition called acrania, which kills babies shortly after birth. The condition is not explicitly listed as an exception in Louisiana's abortion law.
Louisiana state Sen. Katrina Jackson, who authored the law, has insisted that Davis could have had the procedure done in the state despite the lack of an explicit exception. Still, a Louisiana hospital refused to provide an abortion for Davis in fear that they could face prison time, fines and forfeiture of their licenses.
- Viral Abortion Story Surrounding 10-Year-Old Sexual Assault Victim 'Very Difficult' To Verify
- Texas Woman Forced to Flee the State After Court-Approved Abortion is Blocked by AG Ken Paxton
- Truck Driver Smashes Through Crowd Of Pro-Choice Activists As The Country Breaks Out In Widespread Protest Over Roe V. Wade Ruling
“Basically … I [would have] to carry my baby to bury my baby,” Davis has previously said. More than 1,000 people have donated nearly $40,000 to a GoFundMe campaign for Davis in hopes of traveling to a state where she could legally get the abortion.
Davis originally was going to North Carolina for the procedure but wound up going to a Planned Parenthood facility in Manhattan instead.
Davis is one of several women across the United States who have had to go out of state for abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June. Many states have already banned abortions, while others, like Indiana, are in the process of making it happen.
In late August, Davis stood outside Louisiana's capitol building alongside civil rights attorney Ben Crump while calling on the state to clarify Louisiana's abortion ban. Crump said Davis suffered "unspeakable pain, emotional damage and physical risk” due to the law, and he added that state lawmakers “replaced care with confusion, privacy with politics and options with ideology," according to The Guardian.
“This [was] not fair to me. And it should not happen to any other woman," Davis said.