Doctors fear Texas' strict abortion laws put pregnant women in danger

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After nan Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade successful 2022, 20 states banned aliases severely restricted abortion. Six states voted to protect entree to it. And connected Tuesday, voters successful 10 states will determine connected measures that would adhd abortion authorities to their authorities constitutions.

To understand nan effect of nan changing ineligible scenery and its complexities, we went to nan first authorities to alteration its abortion laws: Texas.

Tonight, you will perceive from doctors who say, successful Texas, nan laws designed to extremity abortions are creating unintended consequences – hurting women pinch desired pregnancies and nan group who attraction for them.

Dr. Dani Mathisen: My mom is simply a doctor. And she is astir apt nan coolest personification I've ever met. And I grew up, you know, pinch her coming location successful her achromatic coat. And I honestly conscionable wanted to beryllium my mom.

In 2021, Dani Mathisen was pursuing successful her mother's footsteps. connected her measurement to becoming an OB-GYN. She was 25 years old, successful her last twelvemonth of aesculapian schoolhouse successful Texas, joined to her precocious schoolhouse sweetheart and fresh to commencement a family.

Dr. Dani Mathisen: We planned it retired perfectly. I was gonna get pregnant astatine this clip and it was gonna beryllium great.

Sharyn Alfonsi: You had it planned.

Dr. Dani Mathisen: I had it planned down to, like, nan week.

Mathisen was thrilled erstwhile she learned she was pregnant. Early scans and testing showed a patient babe girl. But a regular fetal anatomy scan astatine 20 weeks did not spell according to plan.

Sharyn Alfonsi: What did they show you was wrong?

Dr. Dani Mathisen: Her encephalon was not formed correctly. She only had 1 kidney. Her spine was truthful bent that it put unit connected her heart. It was honestly a blur. I either said, "Is it bad? Or is it lethal?" Her reply was, "It's lethal," meaning my girl that I planned retired to a tee, and we had already started to get small outfits and bath toys, was going to die.

Sharyn Alfonsi: What did you do?

Dr. Dani Mathisen: Screamed, cried, sewage a 2nd opinion, sewage a 3rd opinion. And it wasn't a mobility arsenic to what we were going to do. It was a mobility of really we were going to do it without getting arrested.

That's because conscionable 2 weeks earlier, a caller Texas rule went into effect, known arsenic SB-8. Senate measure 8.

The rule banned abortion astatine six weeks pinch nary provisions for victims of rape, incest aliases terrible fetal abnormalities… for illustration Dani's case.

The rule besides included a caller enforcement method – deputizing citizens to writer group for aiding aliases abetting an abortion and rewarding successful lawsuits pinch a $10,000 bounty.

Texas women facing gestation complications are forced to recreation retired of authorities for care

The measure included an objection for aesculapian emergencies but didn't specify what those were. Mathisen says her doctors seemed frightened and confused.

Dr. Dani Mathisen: It wasn't clear what counted arsenic aiding and abetting personification getting an abortion. So they couldn't moreover counsel maine and opportunity like, "Yes, we urge you person an abortion aliases astatine slightest look into it, moreover if you spell to different state."

So, Mathisen and her hubby turned to her mother, the physician, for help. Several calls later her mom secured an assignment for her to extremity her gestation astatine a session successful neighboring New Mexico – a non-ban state.

Dr. Dani Mathisen:. She put her licence connected nan statement for that. Because I'm her babe and that's what I needed. She booked our level ticket. She booked our edifice and gave america an letter cover of cash.

Sharyn Alfonsi: You were acrophobic to usage a in installments paper aliases person your sanction attached to anything.

Dr. Dani Mathisen: Yeah, we paid for nan abortion successful rate truthful that location wasn't a insubstantial way of our Texas in installments cards paying for an abortion.

A twelvemonth aft SB-8 went into effect and Roe was overturned, Texas enacted another, much restrictive rule – banning each abortion from conception isolated from erstwhile nan mother's life was successful contiguous danger.

In 2023, Dani Mathisen joined 19 women pinch akin stories successful a suit against nan Texas authorities for denial of care.

The suit did not activity to overturn nan bans. rather, to explain which exceptions were allowed nether nan law.

The Texas Supreme Court yet rejected their case.

But aft nan women revenge their lawsuit, Texas legislators softly passed a caller rule to see 2 exceptions to nan prohibition – 1 for ectopic pregnancies – erstwhile a gestation occurs extracurricular nan uterus. nan other, erstwhile a woman's h2o breaks prematurely.

But according to nan Cleveland Clinic those instances only dress up 5% of each pregnancies.

Dr. Emily Briggs: The inconsistencies, nan misunderstanding, nan confusion. This is why women will suffer their lives because of these rules.

Dr. Emily Briggs practices family medicine successful cardinal Texas. Her agency is papered pinch nan photos of immoderate of nan babies she's delivered complete nan past 15 years. She's overseen hundreds of analyzable pregnancies.

Dr. Emily Briggs: Five years agone I could counsel a diligent connected each nan various curen options disposable successful these medically analyzable situations. And now it is simply a vulnerable business for maine to person that broad speech pinch my patients.

Sharyn Alfonsi: "Dangerous" because?

Dr. Emily Briggs: Because I personally, arsenic a family physician, could look losing my license, I could look life successful prison, I could look immense fines, conscionable for having a speech pinch my diligent astir evidence-based care.

So far, that hasn't happened. No expert has been prosecuted for violating nan prohibition – which is simply a felony successful Texas.

But Dr. Briggs says nan threat of prosecution has created specified fearfulness that today, it's not different for hospitals to require physicians to consult pinch unit attorneys erstwhile treating analyzable pregnancies. Even, miscarriages.

Dr. Emily Briggs: This is not nan aesculapian attraction that those of america successful medicine signed-up for. This is not what our scheme was, aliases is, erstwhile talking to a diligent astir their care. It should beryllium betwixt maine and nan patient. There's truthful overmuch guilt erstwhile you suffer a pregnancy, So adhd to that nan slap-in-the-face of having nan Risk Department of nan infirmary travel successful and beryllium progressive successful that speech betwixt you and your physician. And it's because of nan ineligible ramifications from our legislature.

Sharyn Alfonsi: When there's a consciousness of urgency-- like, "We request to woody pinch this correct now," really do you proceed successful this moment?

Dr. Emily Briggs: With awesome caution. In these situations, clip is of nan essence. She could suffer her uterus, she could suffer her life because of these situations. And erstwhile we-- person our hands tied, and can't enactment appropriately astatine nan medically due time, we tin person worsened outcomes.

Texas has only released maternal decease information done 2021.

How strict abortion bans frighten wellness attraction for each women

But according to CDC numbers, aft Texas restricted abortion maternal deaths roseate 61% from 2019, compared to 8% nationwide.

Dr. Emily Briggs says physicians tin nary longer connection broad maternity attraction to women successful Texas.

Sharyn Alfonsi: Have you heard from colleagues who say, "I don't want to believe medicine successful Texas anymore"?

Dr. Emily Briggs: Yes. Definitely. Obstetricians, family physicians: yes.

Last year, nan number of OB-GYN resident applicants successful Texas dropped 16%.

Sharyn Alfonsi: What does that opportunity to you?

Dr. Emily Briggs: That says to maine that early obstetricians are acknowledging nan complexity of nan rules successful Texas. So-- not only do they not want to train here, but that besides intends that they won't want to believe here.

Dr. Adrianne Smith: So we person a diligent ready--

Adrianne Smith – who was a resident successful Texas – transferred to nan University of New Mexico infirmary this year.

She told america 1 of her past cases successful Texas still haunts her: a young female who became highly sick aft she tried to extremity her ain gestation pinch an chartless medicine she bought successful Mexico. Smith said to a supervising expert astir nan case.

Dr. Adrianne Smith: I retrieve being like, "I wish that location was thing much I could do for her." And he looked astatine maine and said, "The lawyer wide is looking to make an illustration outta somebody. And you don't wanna beryllium that case." And that was erstwhile I realized that location are group that are looking to criminalize maine for that and nonstop maine to jail.

Dr. Eve Espey is nan chair of nan OB-GYN section astatine nan University of New Mexico.

Sharyn Alfonsi: What is it that a resident tin study present successful New Mexico that they can't study successful Texas?

How Texas's abortion laws are driving doctors retired of nan state

Dr. Eve Espey: I mean, truthful galore things. They deficiency an opportunity to study trauma informed care, diagnosing gestation complications successful nan first trimester and successful nan 2nd trimester. They miss learning miscarriage care, ectopic gestation care, gestation of chartless location. I mean, nan database goes connected and on--

Sharyn Alfonsi: I mean, those sound like--

Dr. Eve Espey: They miss truthful much--

Sharyn Alfonsi: --important things to cognize really to do.

Dr. Eve Espey: Really important things.

Those things are portion of nan training required to go a certified OB-GYN anyplace successful nan U.S. but here's nan problem.

In Texas immoderate training is nary longer offered because of nan caller laws. That intends OB-GYN residents now person to time off nan authorities for 2 to 4 week rotations to get nan required training.

Sharyn Alfonsi: Is that agelong capable to really study nan lessons of each of these various things you've conscionable described?

Dr. Eve Espey: No, it's not capable time. I mean, our residents person a dedicated rotation successful nan first year, successful nan 4th year. But they are moving alongside of america passim their 4 years of residency.

And Dr. Espey says her infirmary isn't conscionable absorbing much residents. Data shows much than 34,000 Texas women traveled retired of authorities for attraction past year.

Dr. Eve Espey: We've seen an tremendous summation successful our out-of-state-- diligent volume. Just successful almanac twelvemonth 2023 compared to 2019, we saw an complete 300% increase.

Sharyn Alfonsi: 300%.

Dr. Eve Espey: Over a 300% increase. And we-- you know, connected immoderate fixed day-- successful 2023, 70% -71% of our patients were from Texas.

Today, women making that travel look moreover much risks.

Six Texas counties person imposed "travel bans," which frighten ineligible action against anyone helping to carrier women retired of authorities for abortion services. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has revenge a suit demanding entree to nan aesculapian records of women leaving nan authorities for that care.

We reached retired to Paxton's agency aggregate times complete nan past 2 months to inquire astir nan rumor and sewage nary response.

Dr. Eve Espey: So galore of nan patients who travel to america that we diagnose pinch a miscarriage, they're like, "I'm done pinch Texas. I want my attraction here. I can't spot my ain expert to return attraction of maine for a miscarriage aliases a gestation complication."

Dani Mathisen was 1 of them. After nan nonaccomplishment of her babe successful Texas, she and her hubby moved to Hawaii to statesman her OB-GYN residency and commencement a family.

Dr. Dani Mathisen: I did not wanna beryllium pregnant successful Texas. Absolutely not. I deliberation I cognize excessively overmuch astir what tin spell incorrect successful a gestation to consciousness comfortable being pregnant successful Texas.

Earlier this year, nan Mathisens welcomed Emerson, a patient babe girl. Dr. Emily Briggs is urging Texas lawmakers to activity pinch doctors.

Dr. Emily Briggs: We are not looking astatine this from a partisan standpoint, we're not saying, "We're enemies." What we request to look astatine this arsenic is: We tin each travel together to make this safer for women successful Texas.- conscionable by making immoderate changes to these rules.

Sharyn Alfonsi: If thing changes, past what?

Dr. Emily Briggs: We suffer physicians successful Texas, we suffer patient mothers, we suffer families successful general. It's already scary to determine to go pregnant. Throw connected apical of that that if thing medically analyzable happened, you could suffer your life and not person nan attraction that you deserve. Why would anybody enactment for that?

Produced by Ashley Velie. Associate producer, Eliza Costas. Broadcast associate, Erin DuCharme. Edited by Michael Mongulla.