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Cases of spina bifida dropped 31% and anencephaly declined by 16% after the fortification mandate, according to a federal study cited in the journal Teratology.

The importance of women having enough folic acid in their bodies before and during pregnancy to prevent permanent and life-threatening birth defects, such as spina bifida and anencephaly, has been known for decades.

When she was 11 weeks pregnant, her fetus was diagnosed with anencephaly, a fatal condition in which a baby is born without parts of a brain and skull.

Casiano had been denied an abortion months earlier after she found out her baby had anencephaly, a fatal condition.

Samantha Casiano, a 29-year-old living in eastern Texas, found out halfway through her pregnancy last year that her daughter, Halo, had a rare diagnosis of anencephaly, where much of the skull and brain is missing.