When she gave delivery to her child with a deadly situation two months early, Samantha Casiano scrambled to boost funds for the funeral. Anti-abortion advocates say Texas legal guidelines are “working as designed.”
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Let’s flip now to the story of a funeral in Texas. And a warning – it includes the loss of a kid. The child’s title was Halo. She was born final week. She solely lived for 4 hours. Her dad and mom knew she wouldn’t stay lengthy as a result of she had been recognized with a deadly situation in utero. And this household’s scenario unfolded in a state with strict abortion legal guidelines, which is related right here, as NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin is about to elucidate. Hey, Selena.
SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: All proper. Tell me about Halo’s mom. You spoke together with her final week. Who is she?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yeah. Her title is Samantha Casiano, and she or he’s 29. She and her husband, Luis Villasana, are elevating 5 children of their cell residence in East Texas. And in December, when she was 20 weeks pregnant, she was at a prenatal appointment when she realized that the fetus she was carrying had anencephaly, which implies that the mind and cranium had been solely partially developed. Her OB-GYN informed her the fetus was incompatible with life. Here’s Samantha.
SAMANTHA CASIANO: And then I requested her, , hey; what are my choices? And she says, nicely, due to the brand new regulation, you haven’t any choices. You need to go on along with your being pregnant.
KELLY: The new regulation being the brand new abortion regulation in Texas. And there are not any exceptions for a case like hers.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: No, not in Texas. And actually, only a few states that limit abortion do have exceptions for fetal anomalies. So should you’re on this scenario in Texas, one possibility is to journey out of state for an abortion. I reported in February a couple of lady who did that. She flew to Colorado. She mentioned it price over $3,000. And Samantha and Luis did not have these sorts of financial savings, so they might have needed to drive 12 hours to get to New Mexico. They could not organize baby care. So she braced herself for 5 extra months of being pregnant.
KELLY: Five months. God, how did she cope throughout that point?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Oh, she says these months had been terrible. She has an workplace job and began working remotely so she did not have to answer folks saying, how far alongside are you? And it was additionally painful to go to her medical doctors appointments and see different pregnant ladies there. Here she is.
CASIANO: I undoubtedly really feel like, , at – once we came upon she had anencephaly, I ought to have had that selection, that proper over my very own physique and over my daughter’s physique, to have the ability to inform my daughter, it is time so that you can relaxation, as a result of she was going to finish up having to relaxation in any case.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: She spent months fundraising for the funeral. She was quoted $4,000. A nonprofit known as First Touch Family additionally helped her fundraise, however she did not have as a lot time to get cash collectively as she anticipated as a result of the infant was born final week, two months early, on March 29. And at the moment the household had a small graveside service and buried the infant lady they named Halo.
KELLY: Today. Oh. Selena, does Texas present any public assist for households like hers?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: No, and that is one thing Molly Duane identified once I spoke to her. She’s an lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights. Texas leaves folks to cope with the private and monetary fallout after they have a being pregnant like this, Duane says.
MOLLY DUANE: Where is the state of Texas to offer the protection web for her after forcing her to present delivery to a baby that did not survive and by no means would?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: I additionally spoke to Amy O’Donnell. She’s with the Texas Alliance for Life, and she or he informed me she doesn’t assist including extra exceptions to Texas’ abortion legal guidelines.
AMY O’DONNELL: I do imagine the Texas legal guidelines are working as designed. I additionally imagine that we’ve got a accountability to coach Texas ladies and households on the sources that we’ve got out there to them.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: She says there are personal organizations that may assist with funerals, and her group would assist public funds getting used for that, too. Samantha and her household are getting some additional assist. Since NPR revealed her story yesterday, many individuals had been moved to donate to her funeral fundraising web page, they usually’ve now donated $30,000 and counting.
KELLY: NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin. Thank you.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Thank you.
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