Heather Maberry’s unborn child was diagnosed with anencephaly at 20 weeks.
A Kentucky mother of three says she was forced to travel out of state for an abortion despite her fetus being diagnosed with a fatal condition.
After Heather Maberry, 32, a substitute teacher from Stanton — about 100 miles southeast of Louisville — and her husband, Nick, got married last year, they were excited to try for a baby and expand their family.
Anencephaly is a serious birth defect, which occurs when the brain and skull do not fully develop. Babies with the condition are either stillborn or die within a few hours or days of being born.
It is estimated that 1 in about 4,600 babies in the United States are born with anencephaly every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Maberry asked if an abortion could be performed, but her doctor told her he could not perform an abortion for her or induce her because of the law. ABC News reached out to the doctor’s office for a comment on their care for Maberry, but did not hear back.
Maberry said she called the National Abortion Hotline, which referred her to an abortion clinic in Chicago.