Several women urged an Austin, Texas judge Wednesday to block the state abortion ban, arguing that the law does not allow doctors to provide life-saving healthcare to pregnant mothers.
Represented by the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights, the women said they suffered pregnancy complications and were denied medical care after the pro-life law went into effect, NPR Austin reports.
Some of the 15 plaintiffs in the case suffered miscarriages. According to ABC News, others claimed they were denied “needed” abortions after their unborn babies were diagnosed with fatal conditions; however, in such cases, abortions are not medically necessary and often dangerous for the mother. Two obstetricians, Dr. Judy Levison and Dr. Damla Karsan, also are part of the lawsuit.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office is defending the law.
Many doctors, pro-life leaders and state authorities have made it clear that the Texas abortion ban includes clear exceptions that ensure pregnant mothers’ lives also are protected. No women have died as a result of states’ pro-life laws, some of which have been in effect for nearly two years. Meanwhile, thousands of unborn babies’ lives have been saved.
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One leading doctors’ organization expressed sympathy for the women in the lawsuit, and blamed “unnecessary confusion” about the law, not the law itself, for any denial of care.
“There is not a single state law limiting abortion that does not allow physicians, using their best medical judgment, to intervene and deliver a woman facing a life-threatening complication of her pregnancy,” the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs responded in a statement. “… All patients deserve excellent healthcare – these laws do not prevent that from happening but rather ensure that every patient is treated with dignity and respect.”
The organization, which represents more than 7,000 medical professionals, said physicians in pro-life states all across the country continue to provide life-saving care to pregnant mothers every day unhindered.
But, abortion activists contradict these doctors and insist that pro-life laws put women’s lives in jeopardy.
During the hearing Wednesday, plaintiff Amanda Zurawski told the court that doctors refused to abort her unborn baby even though she was miscarrying, because the baby still had a heartbeat, according to ABC. Zurawski said she waited three days for her baby to miscarry instead and developed sepsis.
“I went from feeling physically OK to shaking uncontrollably,” she told the judge. “I was freezing cold even though it was 110 degrees out. My teeth were chattering violently. I couldn’t get a sentence out. My husband, Josh, asked me how I was feeling on a scale from 1 to 10. I didn’t know the difference between 1 and 10 — which one was higher.”
In the lawsuit, her pro-abortion lawyers claim the medical emergency provision in the Texas law is too vague and doctors are worried about going to prison or getting heavy fines if they act in such cases.
They asked the judge to issue a temporary injunction that blocks the law in situations involving pregnancy complications and allows doctors to exercise their “good faith judgment in consultation with the pregnant person.”
“Tens of thousands of Texans have already been denied abortions. By any measure, Texas is in a health care crisis. The only issue in this case, however, is who should be getting abortions, under the medical exception to the abortion ban and two years later, still, no one knows,” Molly Duane, a lead attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in her opening statement.
However, lawyers for the Texas Attorney General’s Office said the case really is about legalizing elective abortions again.
ABC News reports more:
Prosecutors appearing on behalf of the state of Texas claimed the suit was due to dissatisfaction with medical care that the plaintiffs received and that they did not approve of Texas laws.
“Plaintiffs simply do not like Texas’ restrictions on abortion,” Cindy Fletcher, a representative for the state in the lawsuit, said.
Doctors with the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs said abortion activists have created “unnecessary confusion” about pro-life laws, which were written to protect both mother and baby. They said the Texas law and others clearly define abortion as procedures that involves intentionally and unnecessarily killing an unborn baby, and abortions are not health care.
“State laws such as Texas’ that restrict abortion are aimed at one thing – protecting the citizens of that state,” the doctors said.
Many doctors have confirmed that pro-life laws protect women’s lives. In a video at EDIFY, Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst, a prominent OB-GYN, dispelled myths about maternal mortality, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriages and pro-life laws.
“There is no reason to live in fear,” Wubbenhorst told women. “Throughout history, and to this day, life-affirming physicians caring for pregnant women have always recognized that they have two patients – the mother and her child.”
Other doctors told The Spectator that abortion activists’ lies about pro-life laws are creating confusion and putting women’s lives at risk. They accused some of their abortion-supporting colleagues of putting abortion politics ahead of their patients.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute also conducted extensive research into the matter, including analyses of state pro-life laws, abortion, and miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy care. The research found that all state pro-life laws permit “abortion in those rare and heartbreaking circumstances when it is necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman,” including for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies.
“A plain reading of any of these statutes easily refutes the false and dangerous misinformation being spread by pro-abortion activists,” the study found.
