When Rachel Rieman was pregnant with her daughter, Lily, she purchased just one baby outfit - the one in which she planned to bury the infant.

Diagnosed at 26 weeks' gestation with a brain anomaly that caused her cerebral cortex to never develop, Lily wasn't expected to live through labor and delivery, much less for the 32 days that she did.

"So we ran out to Target and bought some baby clothes to bring her home," recalled Leeann Rieman, when her only grandchild surprised doctors and her family by surviving a month with only a brain stem.

Four years after Lily's death, tears of joy and gratitude for the baby's short life still flow freely at Al and Leeann Rieman's home in west Rapid City.

Inside the house, there are photos, mementos and memories of Lily, whose only obvious physical defects were poor circulation and one lazy eyelid. "We called her our little pirate baby," Rachel said.

Outside in the front yard, there are VoteYesForLife.com campaign signs in support of Measure 11.

That proposed abortion ban, which South Dakota will vote on Nov. 4, would prohibit abortions sought for fetal anomalies such as the one Lily had, which medical experts term "incompatible with life."

Rachel was raised to believe abortion is wrong by a mother who volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center and preached against premarital sex.

But, finding herself pregnant and single as a sophomore at Augustana College, she admits she considered abortion.

"I did. I had at one point called Planned Parenthood, just because I was that scared," she said. "I was in that place of terror, where I was so tuned in to my feelings that I didn't look outward at all."

She credits a billboard message - "Abortion is the choice that kills" - as she drove along Interstate 90 with "making me take responsibility for what I had done and what I was considering doing."

"That just hit me in my heart. It made me think. That's a baby. That's my baby. What am I doing?"

Rachel was making adoption plans when her first prenatal ultrasound revealed the devastating diagnosis. She was encouraged to terminate the pregnancy by numerous medical providers in order to avoid any of the health risks that might stem from a stillbirth or complicated labor and delivery.

"They didn't push me either way, but they made it seem like that's what I should do," Rachel said.

But the young mother-to-be said she never considered abortion post-diagnosis, thanks largely to a supportive network of family, friends and counselors who she knew would be there through the tragedy.

She told her doctors that abortion wasn't an option for her. "Even if I only get five minutes with her, I wanted that five minutes."

The Riemans support Measure 11 because, they say, it will end abortion as a method of birth control, preventing as many as 90 percent of all abortions performed in South Dakota.

In 2006, 16 of the 748 abortions performed in South Dakota were for a known fetal abnormality, according to the South Dakota Department of Health. That same vital records report found that 85 percent of women listed "did not desire to have the child" as one of their reasons for seeking an abortion.

"Having abortion readily available as birth control doesn't make sense to me," Rachel said. "I don't think anyone should lose their life out of convenience to anyone else."

She also insists that birth defects, no matter their severity, are no reason to choose abortion.

"No person who comes into this world is perfect. No baby that's born is perfect. Unfortunately, they could see my baby's imperfections on an ultrasound," she said. "Does that give my daughter any less a right at a chance at life? Who gives me the right to decide if she lives or dies, just because she's not perfect, or because she doesn't look like the baby in the next room?"

Lily passed away peacefully at home in Rachel's arms on a Sunday morning.

"She brought joy to this house. People were coming in and out all the time just to hold her. She was well loved," Leeann said.

Rachel returned to college that fall, earned a psychology degree and went to work for two years at a residential treatment facility for girls in Sioux Falls.

She also got involved in the fight to end abortion on demand in South Dakota by telling her story to the state Legislature's Abortion Task Force.

Today, she works as a staff member for VoteYesFor Life.com in Sioux Falls and often speaks about Lily as a an anti-abortion volunteer. She plans to return to graduate school in January.

"I would not be the person I am today without her," she said.

See related stories:

Are the abortion ban's exceptions enough?

Who gets abortions in South Dakota? A quick profile

Campbell: Reluctant face of Vote No ads

Billboard helped Rieman choose not to abort baby

Initiated Measure 11 Ballot Question

Mary Garrigan can be reached at 394-8424 or mary.garrigan@rapidcityjournal.com