Through extremist laws, public officials in Texas are deterring physicians from providing, and their patients from receiving, critically necessary abortions even when that care is necessary to protect those patients’ lives and their health.
Texans who had severe complications during their pregnancies and Texas obstetrician-gynecologists sued the state of Texas seeking guarantees for life and health-preserving abortions under the Texas Constitution and clarity on when doctors can perform abortions under the medical exceptions to the state’s ban. They asked a state court to block Texas’ abortion bans as they apply to dangerous pregnancy complications, like those faced by the plaintiffs in this case.
On August 4, 2023, a Texas District Court issued an injunction blocking Texas’ abortion bans as they apply to dangerous pregnancy complications. The ruling gave clarity to doctors as to when they can provide abortions and allow them to use their own medical judgment. The court recognized that the patients in the case should have been able to receive abortions, and also dismissed the state’s request to throw out the case.
The State of Texas immediately appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, putting the district court order on hold while the appeal proceeded.
Nation’s leading medical experts urge the Texas Supreme Court to protect the ability of Texas physicians to provide critical care to pregnant patients in medically complex cases.
On November 21, 2023, Democracy Forward filed a brief on behalf of the American Medical Association, the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, the American College of Physicians, the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, the American Medical Women’s Association, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Association of Black Cardiologists, and the American College of Preventive Medicine arguing that the Texas Supreme Court should affirm the District Court’s ruling to protect the ability of Texas physicians to provide critical care to pregnant patients in medically complex cases.
The Texas abortion bans are deterring Texas physicians from providing, and their patients from receiving, critically necessary abortions even when that care is necessary to protect those patients’ lives and their health. Our brief highlights that these laws also threaten long-standing principles of medical ethics and patient autonomy and are further exacerbating Texas’s shortage of medical professionals capable of providing obstetric and gynecological (“OB-GYN”) care.
This will leave countless Texans—whether or not they ever seek abortions—without access to quality OB-GYN care. The Texans who are suffering the most are those who experience discrimination due to their racial or ethnic identity, have low incomes, and/or who live in rural areas—individuals who already face inequities in the healthcare system. As our brief notes, reversing the District Court’s decision would likely increase maternal mortality, already at crisis rates, particularly for Texans of color. Furthermore, exposing Texas providers to civil and criminal liability under Texas’ abortion statutes is chilling the provision of essential health care to Texans.The District Court order should be affirmed so that providers can provide, and patients can obtain, necessary health care before they suffer further harm.
Lastly, the brief affirms that the laws at issue in this case compromise the principles of medical ethics and best practices by pitting physicians’ interests against those of their patients. They deny patients the right to make their own choices about health care and inhibit the ability of physicians to provide care in a manner that respects and safeguards their patients’ autonomy – further harming both the ethical practice of medicine and patient health and safety.