When Samantha Casiano of East Texas found out she was pregnant with her fifth child, she was ecstatic. But at a 20-week ultrasound, she received shocking news. Her baby was diagnosed with anencephaly, a rare and fatal condition that prevents the skull and brain from fully forming.
This was in December 2022, after the Texas Heartbeat Act, or Senate Bill 8, was enacted. The law bans abortion after fetal cardiac activity is detected, which usually occurs after about six weeks of pregnancy. It was passed nearly nine months before the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion.
“I was told that it meant that my daughter was incompatible with life. And I wouldn’t be adding another little human to our family. It was really hard to hear that. It felt like it was a dream -- a really, really bad dream, Casiano, 30, recounted.
Casiano said she was told by her doctor that the baby “would die, either before I give birth, or as soon as I do give birth.” Because of Texas’ strict abortion laws, Casiano had few options. The state bans abortions in almost all cases, with the exceptions of “life threatening” conditions to the mother. Casiano said she was unable to travel outside of the state for an abortion due to financial and logistical constraints. So, she was forced to go to term with her baby.
“Just imagine yourself waking up every morning, knowing that your daughter was going to die. You can feel her kick and move, but she’s going to die. So you have to plan her funeral while she’s inside of you,” said Casiano. “And that’s probably the hardest thing any mother has to go through…It was traumatizing and hard.. Just thinking about it now is just me makes my stomach hurt. And I was forced to go through it. It was torture.”
Four hours after giving birth, Casiano’s daughter, Halo Hope, passed away. “She gasped for air for four hours … She changed colors right in front of me.” Casiano recalled. “And at a certain point, I couldn’t mentally and emotionally [cope]. I feel like mentally I had to close off in order to keep sane.”
Casiano wants the world to hear her story, especially as a new study is shedding light on the effects abortion bans have had on infant mortality.
According to a report published in JAMA Pediatrics, infant mortality increased 12.9 percent from 2021 to 2022 in Texas after the state enacted a near-total abortion ban. A total of 2,240 infants in Texas died in 2022, compared to 1,985 the year prior.
Of those deaths, a disproportionate amount involved congenital abnormalities. Dr. Alison Gemmill, a lead author on the report, said the findings suggest that infant deaths due to congenital abnormalities in Texas were a direct effect of the ban during the 2021-2022 time period. “We saw a 23 percent increase in those deaths in Texas, but a 3 percent decrease in the rest of the U.S.” Fatal fetal abnormalities can be detected through a fetal anatomy scan, like in Casiano’s case, but are usually not detected until about 20 weeks into the pregnancy — well after Texas’ six week abortion ban limit.
Casiano was one of the 20 pregnant women denied abortions in Texas, along with two obstetrician-gynecologists who sued the state of Texas. Represented by the Center of Reproductive Rights, they argued the state’s medical exceptions to its abortion ban were not clear enough for doctors to interpret. The case, which asked for more clear medical guidelines to its states abortion ban, was ultimately rejected by the Texas Supreme Court in May.
Becky Uranga, an OB-GYN in Idaho, said abortion healthcare is a critical part of working with mothers who are carrying babies with congenital abnormalities. “We want to make sure we identify those [abnormalities] early — talk about options and choices and make sure we have the appropriate care (specific pediatric specialists) available. These pregnancies are often at much higher risk for preterm rupture of membranes, bleeding issues or preterm deliveries.”
In Idaho, where Uranga practices, there is a near-total ban on abortion. Just last month, The Supreme Court last ruled an exception exists when the life of the mother is at risk.
Casiano said one of the biggest heartaches of her experience was knowing her daughter had to suffer through her last breaths. Grieving her death, she shared, started the day Halo was diagnosed with the fatal condition, “I should have been able to release my daughter that day. I just wasn’t able to. I was restricted from doing that,” she said.
Now Casiano visits Halo’s grave every year on her baby’s birthday, which she has mixed emotions about. “When I buried her, it was a bittersweet moment…releasing her into heaven. But I’m mad that it took this long to get there. She shouldn’t have had to wait that long.”
Daniela Pierre-Bravo is a journalist, author, and founder of Acceso Community — a mentorship program for professional women. She is the co-author of “Earn It” with Mika Brzezinski. Her solo book, “’The Other: How to Own Your Power at Work as a Woman of Color,” is out now. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @dpierrebravo