The Texas Senate unanimously adopted the legislation aimed at preventing the death of a mother under severe abortion.
Written in response to PROPUBLICA PROPUBLICA Investigation. Senate Bill 31The called the Law on Mother’s Life, is a great turn among the republican legislators who were the original supporters of the ban. For the first time in four years, they acknowledged that women were denied concern for confusion in the law and made measures to clarify its conditions.
“We do not want to have any reason for hesitation,” said the republican state Senator Brian Hugz, who is the author of the initial ban on abortion and sponsored this reform with a two -party contribution and support. Only last fall he had said the law he wrote was’ was “clear enough“
The bill to stop the elimination of what doctors say are the largest obstacles to care, including its main criminal punishments, and does not extend abortion to fetal abortions, rape and incest. Senator Carol Alvarada, a democratic legislator, who covered the bill, stated that its borders were “a real firm pill to swallow”, but it can still change the situation. “I believe that this bill will save life,” she said.
Prapublica’s reporting shows as doctors in the States that the abortion prohibition was waiting for the intervention when women ended up died of high risk complications.
In order to solve this problem, the Senate bill claims that a life -threatening emergency should not be “inevitable”. It also states that doctors can stop ectopic pregnancy that occur when fertilized egg implants are under the uterine cavity. This would allow pregnant patients to receive cancer treatment, Hughes said, even if it threatens the vitality of the fetus.
The bill also clarifies that health care workers or hospital officials can discuss stopping with patients without violating the provision of a law that criminals “assistance and support” abortion. It was unclear to the doctors whether the option could simply lead to steady criminal punishments; Patients report that they could not get direct answers from their providers about their prognosis and treatment options.
It remains to learn how the bill, when the law is passed, will be interpreted by doctors and hospitals, and whether there will be institutions that interfere with the risk, still delay help during pregnancy complications.
Many supporters of reproductive rights are skeptical that the bill does not clearly affect many complications of pregnancy with high risk. The most common in the second trimester, the previous premature rupture of the membranes or PPROM, occurs when someone’s water breaks down early. In these cases, the likelihood of fetal survival is low, but the delay of stopping pregnancy leaves the patient’s risk of infection, which can lead to sepsis, potentially deadly. Ever since the state has banned abortion, lawyers in many Texas hospitals have been advised not to empty the uterus until they can document the signs of infection-signs of emergency.
Death Jazelle Barnik, What propublica reported last year shows the danger of forcing patients to expect care. Diagnosed with “inevitable” throwing at 17 weeks, it showed symptoms similar to PPROM without official diagnosis – its water has not yet broken. Although stable, she was forced to wait 40 hours while the fetal palpitations ended before the doctors caused the delivery. Later, she died of sepsis, which, according to medical experts, probably developed out of waiting.
In addition to documenting cases where women died of sepsis, propublica showed how the indicators of potentially mortal complications rose hips more than 50% Across the country, in the hospitalization of the second trimester after Texas banned abortion.
Officials of the Texas Medical Association, Texas Association and Basic Anti-Anti-Texas Right to Life, Texas Alliance on Life and the US Promoting OB-Gyns-Enable that this bill would allow doctors to stop the PPROM diagnostics point before establishing infection.
Dr. Zek Silva, Chairman of the Texas Council, included PPROM in the list of potentially life -threatening conditions, which he believed that he could get under the exception of the bill. The list that is not exhaustive includes preeclampsia, renal failure, liver failure, heart disease, pulmonary hypertension and neurological conditions. He added that the solutions to intervene because the medical condition can be life -threatening, “by definition, subjectively, based on several clinical reasons” and should be based on a “justified medical opinion”.
However, Propublica talked to six legal experts, who said they were not sure whether hospitals would be cautious about court or punishments, interpret the bill to mean that doctors may offer stopping patients with PPRM.
Some patients with PPROM may remain pregnant for weeks and do not develop infections, and others may become infected and worsened very quickly, said Molly Dwaye, senior prosecutor of the Headquarters of the Rev. Center. “I saw some doctors say that it means:” I have more free intervention in all cases PPROM, “and others say,” I still don’t know, so I’ll wait for the signs of infection. “
The largest OB-Gyns Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in an email statement that it did not support the bill: “This bill will ban on Texas abortion, and we strongly oppose abortion ban.”
Yesterday, the Texas Senate also adopted the 2880 bill, which would allow civil lawsuits against everyone in Texas or abroad, who distributes or provides abortions to anyone in the state. He is expected to face the state home.
The Law on Mother’s Life is now going to the house where he needs to vote for the commission before he heads on the floor. Both chambers must agree on the final version before the governor will be able to sign it into the law.
