Texas women with risky pregnancies sue how state abortion ban forced them to flee

Austin. Five Texas women who were denied an abortion despite dangerous pregnancy complications are suing the state, which could provide the first clarity on when doctors can legally perform the procedure.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by lawyers for the Center for Reproductive Rights, details the “catastrophic damage” inflicted on women as they overcame the state’s near-total ban on abortion.

One of 13 states that have completely banned the procedure, Texas has only one exception: for emergency medical care. But the lawsuit alleges that the language is unclear and doctors, fearing a $100,000 fine and prosecution, are turning away patients.

Most of the women, three of them from the Dallas area, eventually left Texas to have an abortion. At a press conference outside the Capitol on Tuesday, they spoke of their heartbreak after learning their pregnancy was not viable, and then the fear and confusion of having to flee the state for help.

Anna Zargaryan recalled flying to Colorado after her waters broke so early in her pregnancy that she was told her fetus would not survive but was not offered an immediate abortion. The Austin woman said she planned to sit next to the bathroom with her doctor during the two-hour flight, knowing she could bleed or go into labor.

“It was like Russian roulette,” she said. “I felt like I had no choice during this nightmare. What I needed most at the time was the choice that the Texas legislators had denied me.

The lawsuit does not mention Texas health care providers. Nor is he asking the judge to overturn the state abortion ban that went into effect after the fall of Roe v. Wade.

Instead, she asks a Travis County judge to clarify that doctors can perform medically necessary abortions even when a pregnancy complication poses a risk of infection or bleeding, or when the fetus is unlikely to survive.

“The law forces physicians to weigh these real threats of prosecution against the health and well-being of their patients,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York. “We are filing this lawsuit so that patients are not interfered with, detained or denied essential obstetric care, including abortion.”

Northup said the lawsuit, filed against Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Texas Medical Board, marks the first time that pregnant women themselves have challenged the abortion ban.

In response to the lawsuit, Paxton’s spokesman said he was “determined to do everything in his power to protect mothers, families, and unborn children, and will continue to defend and enforce laws duly passed by the Texas Legislature.” Press secretary Jarrod Griffin also pointed to a letter of recommendation released by Paxton last summer that confirmed the exemption from the law as written and promised strict enforcement of the law.

The Texas Medical Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Texas’ restrictive law went into effect after the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, leaving it up to the states.

Doctors who violate the Texas abortion ban risk hefty fines, up to life in prison and possible loss of their medical license. Another legislation, known as Senate Bill 8, also opens them up to lawsuits from individuals who suspect they assisted or had an abortion about six weeks after the pregnancy.

There are no exceptions for rape or incest, only in cases where it is necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman or reduce the risk of “significant and irreversible impairment of an important bodily function.”

While the medical community has been expressing concerns about the strict exclusion for months, the state has given little guidance. The study found that some doctors in Texas believed that patients had to be at the “door of death” to be eligible for an abortion, and because of the delays, women were twice as likely to suffer serious health consequences.

Two OB/GYNs from Houston also joined the cause. One of them, Dr. Damla Karsan, said she and her colleagues fear prosecutors and politicians will harass them and threaten funding for their hospitals “if they abort pregnant women with new diseases.” according to reason.

As of October, providers reported performing just three abortions in the state, all in hospitals and in connection with medical emergencies, according to the latest available data released by the State Commission on Health and Human Services.

Authors of the abortion restrictions said doctors are misinterpreting exceptions and should not delay resuscitation. Legislators have submitted bills designed to clarify the law, although it remains to be seen if they will be passed. The Republican Party-led legislature meets regularly until May.

Lauren Hall said the Capitol was looming behind us. She had already named her baby Amelia when, at 18 weeks, an ultrasound showed that the fetus was developing without a skull. The lawsuit says it is a fatal condition and Hall could face increased health risks. The specialist told Hall that she could leave Texas to have an abortion, but advised the Dallas resident not to tell anyone what she was doing or where she was going.

Neighboring states were so inundated with patients that Hall said she went to a Seattle clinic, where she said protesters ranted at her.

“We received exceptional care in Seattle during the most dramatic period of our lives,” she said, “the kind of care I wish I had in my home state.”

Amanda Zurawski is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. The Austin woman said she almost died from a bacterial infection because doctors couldn’t legally abort even if the fetus wasn’t viable. She was a guest in First Lady Jill Biden’s box for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.

During a briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said the lawsuit revealed “horrific details of unnecessary pain, all because of Republican officials’ extreme efforts to deprive a woman of the power to make decisions about her health.”

Washington Bureau Chief Todd J. Gillman contributed to this report.

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