Consider This from NPR - The New Texas Abortion Law Is Putting Some Patients In Danger

Episode Date: March 2, 2022

Doctors in Texas have been warning that the state's abortion law known as SB 8 would make it harder for them to treat medical crises and would endanger their patients. Six months in, those predictions appear to be coming true. NPR correspondent Sarah McCammon reports from central Texas where some women have faced medical issues made more dangerous by SB 8.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Maddie, we're not using her full name, is a 21-year-old college student living in Houston, and last year she got an unwelcome surprise. When I initially found out that I was pregnant, I was like, I cannot have a kid right now. Like, I cannot do that. Maddie decided to get an abortion, and while she had support from her family, she had a much bigger hurdle in front of her. Her state, Texas, passed a law last year which gives a woman only six weeks to get an abortion after conception. The standard elsewhere is 23 or 24 weeks. Well, six weeks had already passed, so Maddie had to look to clinics in neighboring states,

which took a month just to get an appointment. I drove all the way to Mississippi through the night with my father, and then after the initial visit, they're like, you can come in on this day at this time next week. And so right after my appointment, we turned around and drove back to Texas. Maddie and her mother were able to fly back to Mississippi a week later to have the abortion performed. The whole experience was exhausting. It cost nearly $2,000, a price that would likely be far too high for many Texans. Since this law went into effect on September 1st, it has likely impacted thousands of women. What we really don't know at this point is how many of those are actually able to seek care

out of state and how many are forced to continue a pregnancy against their will. Dr. Amna Dermish is an OB-GYN and a regional medical director at Planned Parenthood in Austin. She says that six-week window leaves barely any time for women to get a legal abortion in the state. Even then, if she were to have a positive pregnancy test, she barely has a week and a half to find a clinic, undergo a 24-hour waiting period, and then have access to an abortion. Which is why this new law effectively outlaws abortion. John Segoe with the anti-abortion rights organization Texas Right to Life put it this way. We are actually in Texas getting a glimpse of what a post-Roe world would look like.

We are experiencing close to an abortion-free state and that has never happened since 1973. Consider this. The new Texas law makes getting an abortion nearly impossible. Now, six months in, we're seeing how it can also endanger the lives of patients. I don't call any of these people pro-life because I've never felt like I didn't matter, that my life was expendable, than I did in that moment. Somebody's going to die eventually. From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly. It is Wednesday, March 2nd. It's Consider This from NPR. A quick warning, this episode contains frank discussions about miscarriage and sexual assault. Doctors in Texas have been warning that the state's abortion law, known as

SB8, would make it harder for them to treat medical crises and would endanger their patients. Six months in, those predictions appear to be coming true. Take Ana and Scott. We're using first names only because of the sensitivity of the story. They were planning their wedding in Central Texas for this coming May, when Ana realized her period was almost two weeks late. And I just remember laughing to myself because I was like, wow, for as responsible as I think I am all the time, like I had no idea that I was pregnant and that late. This was in September, just after SB8 had taken effect, which again, bans abortions after six weeks. But Anna and Scott, they were surprised, but they were open

to having a baby. So they moved their wedding plans to December. When the day arrived, Anna was 19 weeks pregnant. And when she was in her wedding dress, she noticed something was wrong. It felt like something was coming out of me. So I freaked out. Like I literally wet my dress in the seat that I was in. NPR correspondent Sarah McCammon takes the story from here. Ana's water had broken too early for the baby to survive. She and Scott spent the night of their wedding in the ER trying to take in heartbreaking news. Basically, the doctor looked at me and was like, well, the baby's underdeveloped. Even with the best NICU care in the world, they're not going to survive.

And as painful as it was to hear that, the doctors told Ana there was another urgent concern. You're at a high chance of going septic or bleeding out. And unfortunately, we recommend termination, but we cannot provide you one here in Texas because of this law. In her situation, Ana's doctor says a patient would normally be offered a few options. Wait and watch for signs of danger or terminate the pregnancy. She says termination would be safest and most likely to preserve Ana's future fertility. But under Texas law, abortions are only allowed at that stage for severe medical emergencies,

defined as when a patient is, quote, in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function. Ana's doctor asked us not to use her name because she worries about frivolous lawsuits in the current environment. If you were given this on a board exam, you'd say, what would you tell this patient? And your answer would be expectant management or offer termination. Those are essentially the two choices. That is standard of care in the United States. As long as fetal heart tones were detectable, doctors told Ana they couldn't offer her a termination unless her life was in imminent danger. It's impossible to know how many patients and doctors are facing similar conversations in Texas, but Honest Doctor says many of her colleagues are feeling frustration and disbelief as they navigate complex situations. The law contains no exception for pregnancies conceived through rape or incest, which can also create unexpected and wrenching decisions for patients and doctors.

Dr. Andrea Palmer is an OBGYN in Fort Worth. She recently took care of a woman who discovered she was pregnant after being drugged and raped at a party. Before the assault, she and her husband had been trying for a baby. She was not able to discern whether the baby was a product of consensual sex with her husband or the product of her sexual assault. Genetic testing could have answered that question, but not in time to legally get an abortion close to home. Palmer says her patient couldn't afford to travel out of state and didn't want to risk waiting and finding out the worst, so she got an early abortion in Texas while it was still legal. The thought of carrying something in your body and of raising a baby that could have been by a man who was sadistic and sick and awful enough

to drug and rape a complete stranger. I just cannot imagine that somebody who claims to have love in their heart would ever wish that particular bit of hell on another human being. Palmer says her patient gave permission to share her story anonymously so people could hear how complicated and difficult these decisions can be. Yeah, I mean, it's absolutely horrific. John Segoe is legislative director with Texas Right to Life, which helped push SB8 through the state legislature last year. He says the law's supporters believe abortion is an act of injustice no matter what. Even in the worst circumstances, another act of violence on an innocent victim is not the best solution that we have. Sego says when it comes to medical emergencies, medical associations should do more to help doctors understand what's allowed under the law. But groups like the American College of

Obstetricians and Gynecologists say the law is vaguely worded and leaves providers vulnerable to being sued. In the ER on their wedding night, Ana and Scott say their doctors could do little to help them. And I remember being like, why can't you just do this? You know, they couldn't even say the word abortion. Like, I could see the fear in these doctors' eyes that they were just so scared to even talk about it. They were typing stuff out on their phones and showing it to us.

Ana's doctor wasn't working that night in the ER, but one of her partners filled her in the next morning. The doctor says she called Ana right away. She asked, so the state of Texas just wants me to get sick enough that I have to be admitted to the hospital? And I said, yes, that's essentially what's happening. They needed a plan to get Ana to a place where she could get the procedure as quickly as possible.

They ruled out some nearby states, including Oklahoma and Arkansas, with mandatory waiting periods as long as three days. So there's two options. There's New Mexico and there's Colorado. Would we rather have her go into labor on a plane or out by Midland? Like in a car. In a car. And I said, absolutely not.

That's Ana's doctor again. Because West Texas is at least eight or nine hours of desert with hours with no cell phone reception, no gas station in the middle of a medical crisis. So I requested she take a flight and make it a direct flight if possible. But Ana says that plan came with its own set of risks. Oh God, when I talk about this, it's the hardest thing. I had to come up with a game plan with my OB in case I went into labor on the flight. And I made sure that I bought us front row seats so I could be close to the bathroom in case it happened. And like no one should ever have to do that. But even through

tears, Ana says she knows she was lucky to have several thousand dollars in savings to cover the cost and to get an appointment in Colorado at all. Clinics across the region say they're struggling to accommodate the surge in demand from Texas patients, and they're fearful that many more states could implement similar laws if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns decades of precedent guaranteeing abortion rights. Since her ordeal, Ana says she fears for the lives of other women. I don't call any of these people pro-life because I've never felt like I didn't matter, that my life was expendable than I did in that moment. Somebody's going to die eventually.

Lawmakers in states including Oklahoma, Florida, and Ohio are sponsoring bills modeled after the one in Texas. Meanwhile, some states like California and Vermont are taking steps to expand abortion access, hoping to increase their ability to take in patients like Ana from around the country. NPR correspondent Sarah McCammon reporting there from Central Texas. Additional reporting in this episode from NPR correspondent Wade Goodwin. You're listening to Consider This from NPR. I'm Mary Louise Kelly.