Pregnant Woman Denied Health Care by Pro-Life Alabama Law Even Though Her Fetus Had No Skull, Spent Savings for Life-Saving Operation in Chicago

Because she lives in Alabama, a state with a strict abortion ban deadlocked by other states with similar restrictions, her OBG-YN gave her a sticky note with a phone number of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Chicago, 580 miles away.

She and her husband, Caleb – who were living in Athens, Alabama, with their toddler son, Xavier – had to max out their credit card to cover the expenses required for the last-minute trip…

She got a pre-procedure ultrasound and was told by Dr. Erica Hinz that she was experiencing a partial molar pregnancy and fetus triploidy.. Molar and partial molar pregnancies are potentially life-threatening diagnoses in which an abnormal placenta grows at an accelerated rate and has the potential to develop precancerous cysts.The condition is rare and can cause long-term complications…

Dr. Hinz knew she needed to terminate the pregnancy immediately but was not equipped at the clinic, so she booked Tamara a procedure at a nearby hospital.

“Honestly, if she were delayed any further, I think she would have had a much worse outcome,” she said.

Tamara recalled: “I was in surgery within, like, an hour of being there,” Costa says of her hospital experience. “At that point, I think we were terrified.”