Story No. 368: Provider from Washington

I recently had a patient named Arwa (name changed) who had a highly desired pregnancy with fetal anomalies facing an extremely poor prognosis. The decision to end her pregnancy was not an easy one for her. Together with her mother and a trusted community member, we worked to square her abortion decision within her religious framework. She and her family felt good about her decision to end the pregnancy, treasured the brief time they had with the baby, and planned to bury the baby with all the rites their religion prescribes. We are all hopeful for a different outcome for her in her next pregnancy, but this pregnancy ended as well as it could given all the factors out of her control.