In the United States, a woman was denied an abortion after her fetus was diagnosed with anencephaly - the child was to be born without a skull and brain. According to state law, doctors did not have the right to terminate a pregnancy and were forced to let the pregnant woman go home after the examination.
An essay, The Myth of Choice, was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal of the American College of Medicine on Tuesday June 4. In it, an anonymous doctor shares a story from his practice, during which the hospital staff and the patient had no choice but to sympathize, regret and suffer. An unnamed woman went to the hospital in late pregnancy for screening, during which it was revealed that her fetus had anencephaly. With this diagnosis, the child could not survive - as a rule, half of such cases end in miscarriage, and the other half of the newborns die within a few weeks. According to the laws of the state in which the described situation occurred, medical personnel could only provide all possible assistance in maintaining the course of pregnancy: abortions after 21 weeks are prohibited,and there was no threat to the mother's health, so it was not possible to substantiate it on medical grounds.
As a result, the patient was allowed to go home, and a few days later she returned with contractions - she had a premature birth. The child lived for several hours, and his mother was discharged in a satisfactory physical condition, but she definitely needed psychological help, which she could not afford. Unfortunately, the details of the story are unknown, either for ethical reasons or due to the safety of the patient and staff. Judging by some details, the woman lives very poorly - she could not get to the hospital for several months, since she did not have a car, and her husband was not able to accompany her due to continuous work. Also, the patient did not know English and the doctor had to communicate with her via an interpreter via video link.
In addition to functional disorders, complete anencephaly leads to severe deformity of the child, which is an additional severe stress for the parents. In the absence of the bones of the cranial vault, as was the case in the described case, even the eyes cannot resist and can fall out forward. The longest life span of a child with this developmental defect is more than three years, but the necessary bones and cerebral hemispheres were partially formed.
The legislation of various countries concerning abortion is a frequent cause of fierce debate and discussion regarding the reproductive rights of women and the prevalence of the value of the child's life over them. There are quite common cases when women are forced to give birth to a child regardless of their desires and capabilities, as well as without taking into account their chances of a long and healthy life. At the moment, in seven states of America, abortion at the request of the mother is carried out at any time, and in more than 30 states, even a minor patient remains anonymous.
In the described case, the child was found to have anencephaly, a relatively rare intrauterine developmental disorder in which the cerebral hemispheres, the bones of the cranial vault and the soft tissues of the head are not formed partially or completely. Due to the fact that the brain stem and cerebellum, the fetus continues to function, and after childbirth it can live for several more weeks and even months. In Russia, a woman can have an abortion of her own free will until the end of 12 weeks, in the event of rape - up to 22 weeks, and for medical reasons - at any time.
Vasily Parfenov