I would like to share Tori’s story with you (named changed to protect patient). Tori and her husband planned their pregnancy carefully to come during a period in her graduate studies that would allow her to take the most maternity leave possible. They were thrilled when they learned she was pregnant and that their plan to time the pregnancy just right had been successful.

At 20 weeks, during a routine ultrasound, they were devastated by the news that the fetus carried a rare disorder that would result either in death of the infant shortly after delivery, or a shortened lifespan wrought with profound disability. Their decision was agonizing: end the pregnancy after 20 weeks or watch their child die or suffer.

Is this a decision the legislature should be making for Tori? Or is this one that she should be making with her family, with the advice of her doctor?