Texas women face strict abortion laws that could limit their care

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Consequences of Texas' strict abortion laws

The unintended consequences of Texas' strict abortion laws | 60 Minutes 13:12

Dani Mathisen was surviving successful Texas and joined to her precocious schoolhouse sweetheart. She was thrilled to study she was pregnant pinch a babe girl. But astatine 20 weeks, a fetal anatomy scan revealed devastating news. Her girl only had 1 kidney, her spine was truthful bent that it put unit connected her bosom and her encephalon was formed incorrectly.

The information was diagnosed arsenic lethal, but nether a Texas rule imposed conscionable weeks earlier Mathisen's scans, abortion was banned astatine six weeks pinch nary provisions for rape, incest aliases terrible fetal abnormalities, for illustration Dani's case.

"It wasn't a mobility arsenic to what we were going to do," Mathisen said. "It was a mobility of really we were going to do it without getting arrested."

Unable to get curen successful Texas, she traveled to New Mexico - a non prohibition authorities - for care.

Texas doctors seemed frightened and confused

In 2021, Senate Bill 8 – known arsenic SB8 – went into effect successful Texas. It included a caller enforcement method, deputizing citizens to writer group for aiding aliases abetting an abortion. Successful lawsuits would beryllium rewarded pinch a $10,000 bounty.

The measure included an objection for aesculapian emergencies, but didn't specify what those were.

Mathisen wasn't capable to get attraction from her ain doctors because they were fearful of nan law's consequences.

"It wasn't clear what counted arsenic aiding and abetting personification getting an abortion," she said. "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.'"

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

Doctors opportunity strict abortion laws successful Texas put pregnant women and their physicians astatine superior risk

"She put her licence connected nan statement for that. Because I'm her babe and that's what I needed," Mathisen said. "She booked our level ticket. She booked our hotel. She called nan clinic, sewage america scheduled, and gave america an letter cover of cash."

Mathisen was acrophobic to usage a in installments paper aliases person her sanction attached to nan appointment.

"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," she said.

The changing ineligible scenery successful Texas

Twenty states banned aliases severely restricted abortion aft nan Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade successful June of 2022. Texas went a measurement further and enacted a trigger rule that made performing an abortion a felony.

Under nan new, much restrictive law, Texas banned each abortion from conception, isolated from erstwhile nan mother's life was successful contiguous danger.

In 2023, Mathissen joined 19 women pinch akin stories successful a lawsuit against nan Texas authorities for denial of care. The suit did not activity to overturn nan bans, but alternatively to explain which exceptions were allowed nether nan law.

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

The lawsuit was rejected by nan Texas Supreme Court, but aft nan women revenge their suit, Texas legislators softly passed a caller rule to see 2 exceptions to nan ban: 1 for ectopic pregnancies –when a gestation occurs extracurricular nan uterus– and nan different erstwhile a woman's h2o breaks prematurely.

Maternal deaths connected nan rise

Texas has only released maternal decease information done 2021, but according to numbers from nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, aft Texas restricted abortion, maternal deaths roseate 61% successful Texas from 2019 – compared to 8% nationwide.

Dr. Emily Briggs, who has overseen hundreds of analyzable pregnancies successful Texas, said women could suffer their lives because of Texas' laws. The threat of prosecution has created specified fearfulness that today, astir Texas hospitals require physicians consult pinch unit attorneys erstwhile treating analyzable pregnancies and moreover miscarriages.

"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," Dr. Briggs said.

Because of these rules, doctors often can't supply contiguous attraction moreover erstwhile there's an urgent aesculapian situation.

"In these situations, clip is of nan essence," Dr. Briggs said. "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."

Leaving Texas

According to nan Guttmacher Institute, much than 34,000 Texas women traveled retired of authorities for attraction past year. Dr. Eve Espey, nan chair of nan OB-GYN section astatine nan University of New Mexico Hospital, said they had a 300% summation successful out-of-state patients betwixt 2019 and 2023.

"On immoderate fixed time successful 2023, 70-71% of our patients were from Texas," she said.

Today, women making that travel look moreover much risks. Six Texas counties person imposed recreation 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.

How strict abortion bans frighten wellness attraction for each women

Paxton's agency has not responded to aggregate 60 Minutes requests to talk nan issue.

"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…or a gestation complication,'" Dr. Espey said.

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.

"I did not want to beryllium pregnant successful Texas, perfectly not," she said. "I deliberation I cognize excessively overmuch astir what tin spell incorrect successful a gestation to consciousness comfortable being pregnant successful Texas."