Baby Halo vs. the State of Texas
The state of Texas forced a mother to carry a baby destined to die after birth to full term. Now that the baby has died, where is Texas?
D L Edwards
4/11/20232 min read
A baby named Halo was born last week on Good Friday. She was two months premature and weighed just 3 pounds. She lived for four hours before dying in the arms of her father.
Her mother was told the baby would not live long. She found that out three days after Christmas when she was 20 weeks pregnant. She had anencephaly--part of the baby's brain and skull never developed. She was told that the baby was "incompatible with life". She asked the doctor what her options were. The doctor told her that because she lived in Texas, she had no options. Even though the fetus was certain to die, she had to continue with the pregnancy.
The mother, Samantha Casiano, age 29, and her partner are raising five children, the youngest being 9 months old.It would have been a trip of at least 700 miles in order to get an abortion in New Mexico or Arizona. That would have taken more than 12 hours to drive and would have required time off work and childcare for the children. She decided her only true option was to have the baby. Now she is trying to figure out how to pay for the funeral. Texas made her have the baby, but did not help provide for the funeral.
A fundraising page set up by a local charity for the purpose of burying the child only raised $480. The state has promised several times to provide money for these types of funerals but has not come through. In the end, a Christian grief group was able to get several services donated and used family assistance funds to bring the total up to $1400.
Casiano hoped at one point that Halo's organs could at least be donated to another baby in need, making the birth important. Anencephaly babies, however, are not considered for donations, making the whole affair even more incomprehensible. One would think that if an entity like the state of Texas would ban all abortions except in cases where the mother is in danger, they could at least have the good conscience to help these people in the final reel. Apparently that is out of Texas's realm of understanding. Making laws is easy. Doing the right thing, unfortunately, is hard for some.