How Florida’s abortion ban is leaving one family in agony

Despite their baby’s fatal fetal abnormality, the Dorbert family was denied the possibility of terminating their pregnancy early.

Florida’s H.B. 5 — Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality — went into effect last July, soon after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a half-century constitutional right to abortion.

The new law bans abortion after 15 weeks with a couple of exceptions, including one that permits a later termination if “two physicians certify in writing that, in reasonable medical judgment, the fetus has a fatal fetal abnormality” and has not reached viability.

It is not clear how the Dorberts’ doctors applied the law in this situation. Their baby has a condition long considered lethal that is now the subject of clinical trials to assess a potential treatment.

Neither Dorbert’s obstetrician nor the maternal fetal medicine specialist she consulted responded to multiple requests for comment. Read more: https://wapo.st/3KiBkjZ. Subscribe to The Washington Post on YouTube: https://wapo.st/2QOdcqK

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