Women face risks as doctors fight medical exceptions to abortion
Of the 13 states with trigger bans, all make exceptions for abortions to save the life of the mother. But what defines a medical emergency?
HOUSTON - Dr. Amanda Horton, an obstetrician specializing in high-risk pregnancies, was counseling pregnant patients in a small rural hospital Last month in Texas, a woman arrived in crisis: her pregnancy was only 17 weeks old and her waters had broken.
The fetus would not be viable outside the womb, and without the protection of the amniotic sac, the woman was vulnerable to infection that could threaten her life. In Colorado or Illinois, states where Dr. Horton also practices and where abortion is generally legal, there would have been an option to terminate her pregnancy.
Texas has banned most abortions, except in cases where a woman's life is threatened. But the life of the patient in this case was not in immediate danger - yet. The hospital sent her home to wait for signs of infection or labor, Dr. Horton said.
Worried and with nowhere to go, the woman instead traveled hundreds of miles to New Mexico for an abortion.
"She ended up taking matters into her own hands," Dr. Horton said. Her patient, she said, made a choice "for her life".
Each of the 13 abortion-banning states allows some exemption to save the mother's life or to face a serious risk of "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function".
But making this decision has become fraught with uncertainty and legal risk, physicians of several,” the states said, with many adding that they have already been forced to significantly change the care they provide to women whose pregnancy complications put them at risk. high risk of harm.
Last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over federal guidelines that required doctors to perform a abortion, even in states that ban abortion, if they determine it is necessary. re to treat dangerous pregnancy complications.
Amid legal wrangling, hospitals are struggling to figure out where and how to draw the line. Some have appealed to special panels of doctors and lawyers to decide when a pregnancy can be terminated prematurely. Others demanded that multiple doctors approve such a decision and document in detail why an abortion was necessary.
The result delayed treatment and increased risk, said doctors.< /p>
"It's like taking a lot of people to the top of a skyscraper and pushing them to the edge, then catching them before 'They don't fall out,' said Dr. Alireza A. Shamshirsaz, an obstetrician and fetal surgeon who practiced in Houston until last month. "It's a very dangerous way to practice. We all know that some of them will die."
The impact in these cases is on women who want having children, only to encounter complications during pregnancy.The ability to terminate a pregnancy has long been part of standard care offered by physicians in situations where there is a risk of harm or even death to the mother.
Of the 13 states with trigger bans, all make exceptions for abortions to save the life of the mother. But what defines a medical emergency?
HOUSTON - Dr. Amanda Horton, an obstetrician specializing in high-risk pregnancies, was counseling pregnant patients in a small rural hospital Last month in Texas, a woman arrived in crisis: her pregnancy was only 17 weeks old and her waters had broken.
The fetus would not be viable outside the womb, and without the protection of the amniotic sac, the woman was vulnerable to infection that could threaten her life. In Colorado or Illinois, states where Dr. Horton also practices and where abortion is generally legal, there would have been an option to terminate her pregnancy.
Texas has banned most abortions, except in cases where a woman's life is threatened. But the life of the patient in this case was not in immediate danger - yet. The hospital sent her home to wait for signs of infection or labor, Dr. Horton said.
Worried and with nowhere to go, the woman instead traveled hundreds of miles to New Mexico for an abortion.
"She ended up taking matters into her own hands," Dr. Horton said. Her patient, she said, made a choice "for her life".
Each of the 13 abortion-banning states allows some exemption to save the mother's life or to face a serious risk of "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function".
But making this decision has become fraught with uncertainty and legal risk, physicians of several,” the states said, with many adding that they have already been forced to significantly change the care they provide to women whose pregnancy complications put them at risk. high risk of harm.
Last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over federal guidelines that required doctors to perform a abortion, even in states that ban abortion, if they determine it is necessary. re to treat dangerous pregnancy complications.
Amid legal wrangling, hospitals are struggling to figure out where and how to draw the line. Some have appealed to special panels of doctors and lawyers to decide when a pregnancy can be terminated prematurely. Others demanded that multiple doctors approve such a decision and document in detail why an abortion was necessary.
The result delayed treatment and increased risk, said doctors.< /p>
"It's like taking a lot of people to the top of a skyscraper and pushing them to the edge, then catching them before 'They don't fall out,' said Dr. Alireza A. Shamshirsaz, an obstetrician and fetal surgeon who practiced in Houston until last month. "It's a very dangerous way to practice. We all know that some of them will die."
The impact in these cases is on women who want having children, only to encounter complications during pregnancy.The ability to terminate a pregnancy has long been part of standard care offered by physicians in situations where there is a risk of harm or even death to the mother.
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