Barbara Boxer: “I am going to read you the story of Viki Wilson. Viki is a pediatric nurse. She lives in California. Her husband Bill is…”

“I am going to read you the story of Viki Wilson. Viki is a pediatric nurse. She lives in California. Her husband Bill is an emergency room physician. The Wilsons were expecting their third child when they received a devastating diagnosis at 36 weeks of pregnancy. I hope every colleague will listen to this story and, for a moment, think about this couple and what they faced. Viki was married to an emergency room physician. They were told after 36 weeks of pregnancy, of looking forward to this baby, that a large portion of the brain was formed outside the skull and most of the baby's tissue was abnormal. They were told by several physicians, including geneticists and perinatologists that their daughter they named Abigail could never survive outside her mother's womb, and that the so-called healthy baby kicks that Viki had thought for sure she was feeling were, in fact, seizures caused by the pressure as the baby's head had lodged in her pelvis. Think about how you would feel if you were that father, if you were that mother, if you were that grandma, if you were that grandpa, if you were the mother of Viki or the mother-in-law or the father or the father-in-law or you were the brother of Viki or you were the brother-in-law or you were the sister or you were the aunt. They learned this pregnancy was doomed. They learned the baby they wanted so much could never live outside the womb.”