What Happens Next in the Case Seeking to Block Texas' Abortion Bans?
(and the PATRIARCHAL WAR ON WOMEN continues apace)
What Happens Next in the Case Seeking to Block Texas’ Abortion Bans?
11/28/2023 by Roxy Szal
Doctors should use ‘good faith judgment’ to determine when their pregnant patients need an abortion, said one Texas judge. The state of Texas disagrees.
One of the plaintiffs, Dr. Austin Dennard (L), hugs her patient and fellow plaintiff Lauren Miller, outside the Texas Supreme Court in Austin on Nov. 28, 2023. (Suzanne Cordeiro / AFP via Getty Images)
The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday in a case which seeks to clarify the scope of Texas’ “medical emergency” exception under its state abortion bans. Represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), the plaintiffs—20 Texas women denied abortions, joined by two doctors—allege they were denied abortion care in Texas for their medically complex pregnancies, including cases where the fetus was not expected to survive after birth. The high-stakes and emotional case, filed in March, paints a picture of fear and confusion among pregnant people and doctors throughout the state. During an initial two–day hearing in July, women denied abortions shared harrowing stories of the severe physical harms and trauma they experienced during their pregnancies, which they say were directly caused by Texas’ anti-abortion laws.
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These specific new carve-outs to the law would have provided relief to Texas women who face pregnancies that are not directly threatening to their lives but were nonviable, or that could become life-threatening quickly, like those who shared their stories in court—such as Amanda Zurawski, who had to become septic before her doctors felt legally justified to perform an emergency induction abortion; or Samantha Casiano, whose baby was born without a skull and died of suffocation four hours after birth. But the state of Texas immediately appealed the ruling to the Texas Supreme Court. According to state law, as soon as an appeal is filed, a ruling is stayed—which is why the case found itself in front of the state’s highest court on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
Center for Reproductive Rights attorney Molly Duane alongside other plaintiffs, after the Texas Supreme Court heard arguments in a case brought on behalf of 22 women who were denied abortions even though they had serious complications with their pregnancies that were in some cases life-threatening. (Suzanne Cordeiro / AFP via Getty Images)
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The Zurawski v. Texas case discussion begins at 1:03:30.
The Texas Supreme Court is made up of nine justices, all of whom are part of the Republican party. Even still, some justices seemed skeptical of the state’s arguments.
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A ruling from the state Supreme Court is expected in the coming weeks or months. That ruling will be somewhat narrow: It will only weigh whether to allow Mangrum’s preliminary injunction to go into effect. Duane said she and her team were optimistic that the justices heard her clients’ stories and will rule accordingly.
All the while, the case is working its way through the lower courts, which goes to full trial on March 25, 2024. In the meantime, Duane had a message for Texas women: “My phone number and my email address are readily available online. Patients should call me—because the Center for Reproductive Rights stands ready to help anyone in a situation where their life is on the line and they’re not getting the care they need.” When the case was first filed in March of 2023, it named five Texas women who faced grave and lasting consequences as a result of having been denied abortions. Today, that number is 20—and counting.
https://msmagazine.com/2023/11/28/texas-abortion-bans-medical-exceptions/