I work at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), where most of our patients are more than 150% below the federal poverty line. Even with the financial assistance programs, we can often only provide low-risk patients with one covered ultrasound during pregnancy. I was recently consulted about a patient who, at her anatomy ultrasound performed at 21 weeks of pregnancy (these are usually performed at 18-22 weeks for our patents), found out that her fetus had anomalies incompatible with life outside the womb.

This baby will die shortly after birth, and the hours that it lives will be filled with pain. The patient wished to terminate the pregnancy to prevent future suffering. Unfortunately, because she is beyond twenty weeks, her options are limited by hospital policies. She may now have to carry her pregnancy to term only to watch her newborn suffer and die.