Jennifer and her husband Paul were so excited about having a second child. They were shocked when Jennifer‘s water broke at 18 weeks of pregnancy. When the water breaks this early, there is essentially no chance that the baby‘s lungs will develop normally, making survival outside the womb impossible.

Without medical intervention, the woman usually has to wait several weeks for labor to occur. Every day that passes increases her chances for serious infection but does not improve the baby‘s chances of survival.

Jennifer and Paul made the difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy to reduce Jennifer’s risk of infection. However, because Jennifer had government insurance through her job as a nurse, she wasn‘t eligible for abortion coverage unless her life was at risk.

With Jennifer‘s medical condition, Jennifer and Paul would have to pay $2,000 for an abortion in a clinic or $9,000 at a hospital. They couldn‘t afford either fee. All they could do was wait until Jennifer went into labor on her own or became sick from infection, in which case her insurance would cover an abortion because the pregnancy would qualify as a threat to her life.

Jennifer and Paul were sent home with instructions to check her temperature daily and watch for signs of labor or infection. Ultimately Jennifer did get a fever and became sick. Finally, she was able to have an abortion paid for by her insurance. Jennifer had to put her health at risk to get the care she needed. This is dangerous and cruel.