The Price of Abortion Restrictions in Oklahoma

Jessica Davis is a mother of three who lives in Oklahoma with her husband. She was pregnant with her fourth child when her doctors discovered a severe brain malformation called oloprosencephaly, which would prevent her son from living past a year old, if at all. Due to abortion restriction in Oklahoma, the Davis family had to travel to Dallas, Texas, to prevent undue suffering for their unborn child:

The Davises, who are both unemployed and live on Jessica’s $700 a month in disability payments and food stamps, came home to unpaid bills. The electricity was slated to be turned off the next day. Eric sold off scrap metal he found to pay the bill, but there was no money left for gas and water.

Oklahoma law had barred Jessica from using state Medicaid to cover the cost, so the couple had borrowed some money from relatives to cover the $2,800 procedure. In total, the trip set them back $3,500. “It took everything we had so that our son would not suffer,” Jessica said.

Photo: Photography by Hank

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