BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – The woman who was denied an abortion after learning of her unborn child’s rare and fatal condition is asking the Louisiana Legislature to change things. Her case has gotten national attention.
Nancy Davis’s story made waves across the nation after she first shared her situation. Her baby was diagnosed with acrania, where the skull fails to form correctly. She was told even though the baby would die within hours of being born, she could still not get an abortion. Since then, she has been represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
The pair, joined by many supporters, gathered on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol on Friday, Aug. 26, and called on lawmakers to clear up the state’s abortion law.
In response to a Louisiana woman being denied an abortion for a nonviable fetus, attorney Ben Crump held a news conference at the Louisiana State Capitol.
“We’re asking the governor and the state legislators to call a special session to deal with this mental health crisis that’s becoming a mental health catastrophe,” said Crump.
The author of the state’s abortion law, Sen. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe. She was able to bring LDH, the attorney general’s office, and the hospital together and clarify the law was misinterpreted. Davis’s child’s condition met the criteria for an exception under Louisiana’s new law. So, with that being said, she was asked why she would go out of state to get the procedure done when she can do it legally in Louisiana.
“We anticipated that question. You know, the attorney general did say that the law is clear. To which, we say that the law is clear as mud,” replied Crump.
Jackson immediately responded to the call for a special session.
“We believe at this time the trigger law is clear,” she said. “The one hospital’s misinterpretation of this law doesn’t make it unclear. LDH released their regulations regarding it. What’s new this week, as of yesterday or the day before, is that the attorney general made it real clear that woman fit under this exception.”
But regardless, Davis still wants to use the $25,000 she’s generated from donations to get the procedure out of state where she knows no doctor will face potential criminal penalties.
“It’s been very emotional … I’m just mentally tired … I’m mentally tired,” expressed Davis.
“We have three kids that we’re raising and trying to explain to them what’s going on. While trying to make such a huge decision … probably the most important decision we’ve ever made,” said Cedrick Cole, Davis’s boyfriend and father of the baby.
Jackson said when it comes to calls for the state to reverse its abortion law altogether, she and other pro-life legislators believe the laws that were passed are good for the women of the state and that her bill to allow for some exceptions supports that.
There seems to have been some confusion around Louisiana’s abortion laws. The lawmaker who wrote the state’s strict abortion law said it’s being misunderstood.
