I recently saw a patient and her husband. Sarah* and Tom* are in their early twenties and recently found out they were pregnant. They were ecstatic, and began preparing for their new life with a baby. They poured their life savings into getting married and buying a house. At the standard ultrasound at 20 weeks, Sarah and Tom found out their baby had anencephaly, a condition where the brain has not developed and the baby has no chance of survival. Sarah and Tom were devastated and came to me because they felt they could not bear to watch their first child die in their arms.

When I told them they would have to pay $6000 up front for an abortion in the hospital they began crying because they knew that would be impossible for them.

The state of Missouri has a law that specifically restricts even private insurance companies from covering abortion services, even in cases such as Sarah’s and Tom’s. When I told them they would have to pay $6000 up front for an abortion in the hospital they began crying because they knew that would be impossible for them. When I explained their other option – to pay $1500 for the same procedure at Planned Parenthood – Sarah cried even harder, as she told me that she knows some of the protesters who would be harassing her outside as she walked in. Tom told me they would have to borrow the money from their parents.

Sarah and Tom did everything they could to prepare for their new baby and only wanted to prevent more pain for themselves and their baby, but because of an unnecessary law, they had to go through torture to carry out the choice they felt was right for their family.