Ever since Texas's Republican legislators prided themselves on passing the first abortion ban in the country, the death rate of pregnant women in the state has skyrocketed by 56%.
We Texas OBs are going to take this bill at its face value: the senate says we don’t have to worry about being charged for taking care of patients with miscarriage and loss- that we don’t have to wait for a close call to act- so that’s what we’re going to do.
And we’re definitely taking risk of major organ damage to mean the uterus as well as any other organ. So previable ruptured membranes is fair game for termination even with heart tones because of the risk of sepsis. We’re not waiting for fever anymore- the rupture itself is risk enough, and should have been all along.
We just hope that the hospital attorneys will feel comfortable with our treating miscarriage and loss, and any threat to life/major organ damage of the mother, because we do.The lawyers are the ones who have been preventing doctors from acting, out of fear for their hospitals’ (and the doctors who work there) liability.
The Texas legislators keep saying in testimony that we docs shouldn’t “worry” if our “intent” is not to kill the “child”, but rather to save the mother. So I guess we’ll see.
I say, push the envelope as far as it stretches to see what the evil trio do next.(Abbott/Paxton&Patrick)
They say don’t worry, I say let’s see. We need some cases in the hospitals to test this law, and with ~ 1 in 4 pregnancies complicated by miscarriage and loss, we’ll have plenty of cases going forward.
Thank you Bonnie for another timely article with your excellent journalism.
When the wording is exceptions for risk to maternal LIFE, women will die for lack of routine basic care. These are healthy strong young bodies with the robust ability to physiologically compensate for life threatening blood loss or infection. This masks the symptoms physicians would need to document risk of life was present. Pulse, blood pressure, kidney function as evidenced by urinary output. When symptoms finally appear, they can be rapid, catastrophic and irreversible. Now you CAN'T do the D&C because the patient is in full blown sepsis or cardiac arrest and not stable enough to take to surgery. No, exception for threat to maternal life is inadequate. These life-threatening scenarios are textbook and easily recognized as threats to maternal HEALTH. Because we don't know until for some it's too late, which patient will crash and die. Legislators are practicing Medicine without a license. THIS MUST STOP !
Completely agree. And that is what OBGYNs have told me. By the time that healthy women show physical signs of major distress, it can already be too late. their vital organs and functions are already crashing. Legislators are trying to legisalte in black & white but pregnant women present in all kinds of grey conditions. that's whyso many are dying.
Legislators don't know, aren't qualified, and ultimately DO NOT CARE. This is about Political Theater and power, not a belief in the sanctity of embryonic or fetal life. Red meat to the base, don't care who or how many women die for their theater. Every Physician took the Hippocratic oath, " First of all, do no harm". Any physician aligned with this malignant legislation is unworthy to practice
We Texas OBs are going to take this bill at its face value: the senate says we don’t have to worry about being charged for taking care of patients with miscarriage and loss- that we don’t have to wait for a close call to act- so that’s what we’re going to do.
And we’re definitely taking risk of major organ damage to mean the uterus as well as any other organ. So previable ruptured membranes is fair game for termination even with heart tones because of the risk of sepsis. We’re not waiting for fever anymore- the rupture itself is risk enough, and should have been all along.
We just hope that the hospital attorneys will feel comfortable with our treating miscarriage and loss, and any threat to life/major organ damage of the mother, because we do.The lawyers are the ones who have been preventing doctors from acting, out of fear for their hospitals’ (and the doctors who work there) liability.
The Texas legislators keep saying in testimony that we docs shouldn’t “worry” if our “intent” is not to kill the “child”, but rather to save the mother. So I guess we’ll see.
I say, push the envelope as far as it stretches to see what the evil trio do next.(Abbott/Paxton&Patrick)
They say don’t worry, I say let’s see. We need some cases in the hospitals to test this law, and with ~ 1 in 4 pregnancies complicated by miscarriage and loss, we’ll have plenty of cases going forward.
Thank you Bonnie for another timely article with your excellent journalism.
Bring it on.
Thank you for your work on behalf and commitment to providing high repro care to the women in Texas.
When the wording is exceptions for risk to maternal LIFE, women will die for lack of routine basic care. These are healthy strong young bodies with the robust ability to physiologically compensate for life threatening blood loss or infection. This masks the symptoms physicians would need to document risk of life was present. Pulse, blood pressure, kidney function as evidenced by urinary output. When symptoms finally appear, they can be rapid, catastrophic and irreversible. Now you CAN'T do the D&C because the patient is in full blown sepsis or cardiac arrest and not stable enough to take to surgery. No, exception for threat to maternal life is inadequate. These life-threatening scenarios are textbook and easily recognized as threats to maternal HEALTH. Because we don't know until for some it's too late, which patient will crash and die. Legislators are practicing Medicine without a license. THIS MUST STOP !
Completely agree. And that is what OBGYNs have told me. By the time that healthy women show physical signs of major distress, it can already be too late. their vital organs and functions are already crashing. Legislators are trying to legisalte in black & white but pregnant women present in all kinds of grey conditions. that's whyso many are dying.
Legislators don't know, aren't qualified, and ultimately DO NOT CARE. This is about Political Theater and power, not a belief in the sanctity of embryonic or fetal life. Red meat to the base, don't care who or how many women die for their theater. Every Physician took the Hippocratic oath, " First of all, do no harm". Any physician aligned with this malignant legislation is unworthy to practice
Agree