Rae* is 24 years old, living with a steady partner.
The mother of a healthy five-year-old child, she and her partner also have
a two-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy, the result of a genetic birth
defect. Currently, the child is on a ventilator in a hospital and does not
have a good prognosis.
Rae would like to have another healthy child and there is apparently a good
chance that she would be able to do so. Unfortunately, it is not possible to
test for spinal muscular atrophy until the 20th week of a
pregnancy; the syndrome will not show up before then.
Determined to try again, Rae became pregnant and discovered after 20 weeks
that this child, too, had the disease; she then terminated the pregnancy.
Recently Rae again became pregnant. Prenatal testing at 20 weeks revealed
that this fourth child also had spinal muscular atrophy.
The National Abortion Federation (NAF) contacted the Jane Fund to let us
know that Rae needed a second abortion.
The procedure alone, without considering the cost of transportation,
normally costs $4,500. The doctor cut the cost in half for her. Rae planned to
travel by bus, (as cheaply as possible).
Our Jane Fund contributed $100 and the NAF hotline raised $1,400 through
their national network.
When they couldn’t come up with more, members of the hotline managed to
raise the additional funds by going to their own families and friends. They
were willing to take this unprecedented step, they say, because of Rae’s
courage, persistence and determination.
As a result of support from the NAF, the Jane Fund, and concerned
contributors, Rae was able to have the abortion she needed at the end of
January. <posted in the Spring 2001 newsletter of the Wachusett
Coalition for Choice.>