A Louisiana mom was denied an abortion in her home state — even though the baby she’s carrying won’t survive.

Nancy Davis, a mother of one who is 13 weeks pregnant, found out at her first ultrasound three weeks ago that her unborn child has acrania, a terminal condition in which the infant’s skull does not develop in utero. Children born with the condition typically die minutes or hours after birth.

“It was an abnormal ultrasound, and they noticed the top of the baby’s head was missing and the skull was missing,” Davis told WAFB-TV. 

But because the pregnancy does not endanger Davis’s life and acrania is not among the Louisiana Department of Health’s qualifying conditions for abortion, she was denied the right to terminate her pregnancy.

Now Davis is struggling over whether to carry the pregnancy to term or cross state lines for an abortion in Florida or North Carolina. She has to make a decision quickly, as nearby states cut off abortion eligibility at 15 weeks. 

“It’s a baby that’s not going to be compatible with life,” said the Baton Rouge mom. “These babies either die stillborn or they die a couple minutes later.”

“It’s hard knowing that, you know, I’m carrying it to bury it,” she continued.

Although Davis, who said her family will support her regardless of her decision, did not take a hard stance on abortion rights, she did say that Louisiana lawmakers should consider broadening the list of conditions that qualify for abortion.

“I just want them to consider special circumstances as it relates to abortion … medical problems, like this is one that needs to be in that,” she told reporters. 

Davis also said she would be willing to testify before the state legislature to advocate further on the issue.

Davis’ challenging predicament is set to become more common in Louisiana as the state’s “trigger law” resulted in a near-total abortion ban in July. 

The list of “congenital disorders and chromosomal abnormalities” that do allow for the procedure includes only 24 conditions. It is unclear why acrania — which Carnegie Imaging refers to as a “uniformly dismal” diagnosis — is not on this list. It’s also not covered under the extra provision that “a profound and irremediable” disorder could qualify for termination.

The “trigger law,” which was upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court last Friday, puts abortion providers at risk of felony charges with up to a decade in prison and a $100,000 maximum fine. The law has no exceptions for rape or incest.

After last week’s court decision, the state’s last three remaining abortion clinics will relocate, leaving the state without accessible providers for the first time since 1974.

Speaking to local public radio station WWNO, Kathleen Pittman, the administrator at Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, called the new law “devastating, when I think of the women who are now going to be denied care.”

Noting that the ban makes it “impossible” for clinics to operate in the state, Pittman said employees are scrambling to help women find care elsewhere. 

“I feel as if I’m in the Twilight Zone,” she lamented. “And this dimension where nothing really makes sense.”