Angela Housley was halfway through her pregnancy when she learned the fetus was developing without parts of its brain and skull and would likely die within hours or days of birth, if it survived that long.
“The technician got a really horrible look on her face,” Housley said. “And we got the really sad news that our baby was anencephalic.”
Many of the current abortion bans are designed as “trigger laws," automatically going into effect if the high court overturns the nationwide right to abortion. That ruling is expected to be released by late June or early July. Idaho and Utah have exceptions for rape or incest, but require the pregnant woman to first file a police report and then prove to the abortion provider the report was made. Only about a third of sexual assaults are reported to police, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
Republicans in the state were split on the issue last year, with Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Sen. Missy Irvin expressing reservations about the lack of protections for sexual assault survivors. The exceptions were always “incredibly limited,” she said. "You might think these exceptions are helpful. But in fact they’re so restricted, they’re very hard to use.”
She was responding to a question from Democratic Rep. Rich Brown, who asked if a 13-year-old impregnated during a rape would be forced to carry to term. “Well, I have. You’re looking at a sexual assault survivor,” she said, adding that requiring rape victims to carry babies to term could lead them to desperate measures, including dangerous illegal abortions or suicide.
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