keep her in your thoughts/prayers

I try not to talk about other people's problems here out of respect for confidentiality, but I can't get this out of my mind and hope she doesn't mind.

Tami's sister, pregnant with her second child, just learned in her first ultrasound that the baby she's carrying (now in the 25th week of pregnancy) will not be born alive because the brain isn't developing properly. Tami's parents are driving this weekend to bring her back here because she needs to have an abortion, and they'll do it in Metairie (though I assume not where she lives in Texas) - but she's nearing the end of the second trimester, so she needs to do it really soon because even for medical reasons it gets problematic both legally and medically.

One doesn't have to be anti-abortion (as Tami and her family are) to feel what a horrible situation this is. It's so bad on so many levels and I can only imagine what Tami's sister is going through (and her husband and everybody else).

I know things like this just happen and there's no fault to lie anywhere. It's more of a miracle for every healthy baby that is born - there are so many things that can go wrong, it's really surprising they don't happen more often. But knowing that and feeling the tragedy are so different. When one is carrying life inside, only to find it's not life - how devastating.