The Omi case

Meet Lindsey Paradiso, a photographer who lives with her husband, Matt, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. On Oct. 19, 2016, Paradiso posted about her experience having a "late-term abortion" at 23 weeks. Since then, the post has gone viral, with over 100,000 shares. In February 2016, Paradiso was 18 weeks pregnant with her daughter Omara when doctors discovered a mass on the baby's neck during a routine ultrasound. "We wanted her no matter what," Paradiso said, so they planned to wait until Omara was viable at 27 weeks to deliver her surgically so doctors could operate on the tumor, which ensured the best chance of survival. Three weeks later, Paradiso got an MRI that confirmed their worst fears: The tumor had tripled in size and was growing into her head, chest, lungs, and eyes. It was inoperable. The doctors believed the tumor would kill Omara before 27 weeks, at which point Paradiso would have to have an EXIT procedure, as the tumor would be too large for her to have a D&C. "I was in labor for 40 hours, it was so painful and exhausting but I wanted to deliver my daughter so I could hold her and say goodbye," Paradiso said. "When she was born and we could see the extent of the tumor, we were shocked," Paradiso said. In Virginia, abortion is legal in the first trimester, legal in the second trimester only at licensed hospitals, and illegal in the third trimester except under certain circumstances. "If there was an abortion ban, I worry that I would've been forced to carry her and never been able to hold her in my arms," Paradiso said.