Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. They have private waiting rooms for these patients and offer grief support, genetic counseling and even bereavement services, including ways to memorialize the lost pregnancy. More than ever, I think people, patients really need to be extremely well-informed and really aggressive about advocating for their own health because the system right now is basically designed to fail, she said. In the nursery upstairs, they had already stashed some baby clothes and new cans of paint. In Texas, a 2021 law made it easier to sue anyone who helps a person get an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. tex. And so they don't even know what the rules are.". I knew something was wrong.. If she wanted to stay in Texas, Halls only choice was to continue with a pregnancy that would not yield a healthy, living baby. Enough to make her retch. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times. "You have to ask yourself, would I put any living thing through the pain, and the horrors, of having to try to fight for their life the minute that they're born?". On September 1, 2021, Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) went into effect, banning virtually all abortions and medical counseling and support related to abortion after six weeks. The bill makes no exceptions for pregnancies that resulted from rape or incest. Under Texas law, doctors can be sued by almost anyone for performing an abortion. In a joint statement, Maureen G. Phipps, MD, MPH, FACOG, ACOG chief executive officer and Eugene Toy, MD, FACOG, chair of ACOG District XI (Texas), stated, "By allowing third . Crawford, the OB/GYN and fertility clinic co-founder, said shes seen instances of pharmacies not wanting to fill prescriptions for certain medications that are related to abortions but being used for other treatments. Another area of Texas law that Seago cited provides an exception to the state's abortion restrictions if the mother's life is in danger or she's at "serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function" unless an abortion is performed. Or you wait till your baby's heartbeat stops.'". Lauren Hall, 27, fought the urge to scream back and tell them just how badly she wished life was a choice she could have made. Elizabeth and James look at clothes that were meant for their baby, whom they lost in the second trimester of pregnancy. The pink-sheeted crib is still set up in the nursery, filled with all the baby supplies theyd bought or been gifted that they now have no use for. Given the states severe penalties, Grossman said medical professionals and their legal teams might err on the side of caution in regard to the law, even if it puts patients at risk. Halls fetus was diagnosed with anencephaly, a neural tube defect in which the brain, skull and scalp do not develop properly in the womb. Her discharge had to be darker. "Later they laid down this beautiful baby girl in my arms. This chapter may be cited as the Texas Abortion Facility Reporting and Licensing Act. After Hall made it through the protesters and the clinics security screening, the clinic itself was an oasis, she said. Under Texas' Senate Bill 8, abortions are banned after six weeks of pregnancy, and the only exception is if a doctor determines a patient will face a "medical emergency" if the procedure isn't . Elizabeth says. From Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 22-24, in downtown Austin, TribFest attendees will enjoy three days full of mind-expanding events, conversations and panels featuring more than 350 big names including Chris Bosh, Pete Buttigieg, Liz Cheney, Annette Gordon-Reed and many others. It is disingenuous to allege that this law prevents obstetricians from following the medical standard of care, she said. Updated: Oct. 24, 2022. Your donation keeps our trusted reporting free and accessible for all Texans and during a legislative session when lawmakers are set to tackle issues from school choice for K-12 students to school safety improvements to changes in property taxes, its critical that Texans know what lawmakers decisions mean for their futures. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has information on early pregnancy loss, finding an OB-GYN and having better conversations with your doctor. Other complications that occur when a woman is carrying twins or multiples can be resolved by a selective reduction, or abortion, of one of the fetuses so that the other has a better chance to live. Texas law reflects this important distinction. These terms are left vague or undefined. In the medical profession, doctors will continue to grapple with the new legal restrictions, and the resultant dilemmas in obstetrical care, says Dr. Peaceman. As a clinic that offers second-trimester abortions, Cedar River Clinics in the Renton, Washington has always seen a good number of patients from states with more restrictive laws, said clinic communications director Mercedes Sanchez. The patient ended up driving 15 hours to New Mexico for life-saving treatment after no one in Texas would help her. An ectopic pregnancy, which occurs when a fertilized egg . "And yet we were. But the hospital staff told her that those weren't the right symptoms, yet, of a growing infection in her uterus. It was because of the state law which forbids termination of a pregnancy as long as there is fetal cardiac activity. Supporters of the law say their goal is to save the life of every embryo, regardless of the circumstances of conception. That's not a good thing. But in cases of unviable pregnancies in which fetal cardiac activity can still be detected, treatment to remove the expected miscarriage could be considered illegal under Texas laws, Grossman said. To the extent anybody is delaying or denying care for ectopic pregnancy, they are simply misunderstanding the law, Grossman said. And a tubal ectopic pregnancy, let's say, is clearly excluded. But now in Texas, the new laws are creating uncertainties that may deter some doctors and other providers from offering optimal miscarriage treatment. Yet under the new law, Dr. Thoppil felt he could not counsel her on terminating the pregnancy. The Oklahoma Senate last week passed six abortion-limiting bills, including one that mirrors the law passed in Texas and another that would ban abortions after 30 days from a woman's last period . As the Supreme Court appears poised to return abortion regulation to the states, recent experience in Texas illustrates that medical care for miscarriages and dangerous ectopic pregnancies would also be threatened if restrictions become more widespread. Even if it had, the Wellers were determined to proceed. There is no treatment to stop a miscarriage once it has started, and miscarriages can become life-threatening to the pregnant patient if complications are untreated. And she just recklessly and negligently goes out and gets abortions all willy-nilly, left and right," she says. After she got through the first trimester, Hall and her husband both heaved a sigh of relief and got to work telling their friends and family. All of Texas' abortion laws have exceptions to treat miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, a potentially life-threatening condition in which a fertilized egg grows outside the uterus, as well as . You're trying to understand exactly what's going on. A recent study also reported 28 women with dangerous pregnancies at two Texas hospitals faced delays for care because fetal cardiac activity was detected, according to the AP. A fight began, which Elizabeth first became aware of as her doctor paced the hall outside her room, talking on her phone. It was just a matter of time before the baby died, or maybe Id have to go through the trauma of carrying to term knowing I wasnt bringing a baby home, said 27-year-old Lauren Hall. We do what we can to honor each of those cases.. Last month, an Austin woman had the medical equivalent of a ticking time bomb in her body. She places the blame for the ensuing medical trauma on the Republican legislators who passed the state's anti-abortion law, on Texas Gov. But even from a young age, she had a lot of questions about what she saw as a deeply unforgiving idea. "It's terrible," says Dr. Alan Peaceman, a professor of maternal-fetal medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. hide caption. But two of those drugs, misoprostol and mifepristone, are the only drugs recommended in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines for treating a patient after an early pregnancy loss. We both have good jobs, weve got a house and we were at a place where if it happens, it happens, she said. I was so excited for this appointment because its so good to see her in there, she said. All of Texas abortion laws have exceptions to treat miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, a potentially life-threatening condition in which a fertilized egg grows outside the uterus, as well as to save the life of the pregnant patient. Laws modelled on Texas's S.B. And they're telling me to think of the positives. The protesters outside a Seattle-area abortion clinic waved pictures of bloody fetuses, shouting that she was a baby killer and begging her to choose life. The Ohio state legislature, which introduced a bill in 2019 requiring doctors to "reimplant an ectopic pregnancy" into the uterus, or face charges of "abortion murder," despite the fact . 1, eff. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Depending on the medical circumstances, one of those options may be abortion. In 2012, a woman died in Ireland after her waters broke at 17 weeks and doctors refused to give her an abortion. Cedar River offers specialty care for patients facing lethal fetal abnormalities like anencephaly. Many physicians say they cannot intervene in complex pregnancies that may not pose an immediate threat to the patient but can rapidly spin out of control. Most recently, the Oklahoma Senate passed six abortion-limiting bills , including one that would ban abortions after 30 days from a woman's last . hide caption. ", Later on, Elizabeth said she realized that her anger at Methodist was misplaced. Consider the patient whose miscarriage care is delayed and develops a serious infection and other complications, Prager said. Maybe they could get the abortion in Denver or Albuquerque. And how can I be so sure I'm not going to get too sick to the point where that's it now you can't have kids. Treatment of ectopic pregnancy is not prohibited by Texas' abortion laws. Anyone can bring that civil action, posing a quandary for physicians and other providers. A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the name and location of a clinic. October 22, 2021. "It's this woman who was saying 'Hi Miss Weller, you're at the 19 week mark. A more common scenario also raises difficult questions, said Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Texas who provides abortions. Pro-Life policies in Texas do not prevent doctors from treating an ectopic pregnancy. The new abortion bans or the old laws being resurrected in a post-Roe world are rigidly written and untested in the courts. Their conundrum became painfully, distressingly clear: wait to get sicker, or wait until the fetal heartbeat ceased. The women who will be forced to carry these babies are the women with less resources, he said. Hall, raised in a conservative Christian family outside Dallas, felt like she had whiplash from the sudden and tragic events that had brought her to an abortion clinic halfway across the country. After talking with James, they both agreed they should end the pregnancy. Or hell honestly it shouldn't even get to the point where you're having to save a woman's life. Which sounds extreme, but Roe had just been overturned. DEFINITIONS. Its our 10th year participating in Amplify, and to celebrate, weve got $15,000 in matching funds from four generous Tribune supporters. This law will prohibit almost all abortions. For doctors treating such patients, the Texas law creates quite a conundrum, Dr. Snyder said. "At first I was really enraged at the hospital and administration," she says. James rushed home from work and drove Elizabeth to the nearby Woodlands Hospital, part of the Houston Methodist hospital system. The associations say these women should be given the option of termination if they become pregnant. Not only will the fetus not survive long-term, but "eventually, it ruptures the tube and the tube doesn't have the ability to contract like the uterus does to shut off the flow of blood, and so it keeps bleeding and bleeding," says Dr. Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN in Texas . "I just cried and screamed in the parking lot," she recalls. Most of these pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth. Dr. John Thoppil, president of the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said doctors usually note a diagnosis when prescribing medicines, and prescription rejections dont appear to be widespread. Texas new measure was intended to impose stringent limits on abortion. The New Texas Abortion Law Is Putting Some Patients In Danger, A Michigan law from 1931 would make abortion a felony if Roe falls. Instead, the patient may choose medication or a surgical evacuation procedure, which Briggs said may prove necessary anyway to avoid a patient becoming septic if some of the tissue remains in the uterus. Then Elizabeth felt another sudden, forceful gush of fluid leave her body. Disclosure: Texas Medical Association and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. But she was barely out the door, still in the parking lot, when her phone rang. The facts were grim. 7:49 PM on Jul 14, 2022 CDT. To deal with the increased demand, Cedar River has reopened a previously shuttered location, enhanced its telemedicine services and worked to find ways to help patients pay for travel and procedures.