A case that made headlines around the world. A pregnant Texas mother was thrown in the middle of the abortion ban debate. Her life was in danger and doctors were confused about what they could do to help. Health reporter Haley Hernandez has her story and looks into the impact the abortion ban is having on women’s health.
Couple gets bad health news during pregnancy
Amanda Zurawski was anxiously awaiting the arrival of their baby girl. But halfway through the pregnancy, there was bad news.
“My cervix had prematurely dilated and my membranes had ruptured.
Soon after Zurawski went into septic shock.
“I knew that I didn’t feel good, but I didn’t know until much later when I was reviewing my medical records, that the doctors, the nurses, the techs, they were all fearful that I wasn’t going to make it through the night,” said Zurawski.
Sepsis is the body’s extreme reaction to an infection. It can immediately start to damage your organs and emergency treatment is necessary. But Zurawski didn’t get urgent care, instead, she says her doctors didn’t know if they could legally terminate the pregnancy that led to the rupture and infection in the first place.
”Never in a million years that I think that it would apply to me. I mean, I had no idea that they could take it that far. And here we are.”
Women file lawsuit against the state of Texas
In response, she filed suit: Zurawski vs. Texas, the now famous lawsuit of Texas women suing the state has 22 plaintiffs. They argue without the right to terminate their pregnancy, their lives were in danger.
This isn’t the role Zurawski wanted, she’s not an activist, but says it’s now a responsibility.
”I feel really driven by the stories of all of the folks who this has happened to or who this will happen to, that don’t have the same resources. And so I intentionally and purposefully spoke out very early because the longer I waited, the more people would have suffered.”
How the abortion ban in Texas is impacting women’s health
Haley Hernandez asked the Department of State Health Services for information to see how the abortion ban is impacting women in Texas.
Last year, during the first full year with the total ban on abortion there were 131 life-threatening complications even though there were substantially fewer abortions.
In 2021, there were 223 complications when abortions were completely legal. And there were thousands more of the procedure happening.
That means there was an increase in the percentage of complications - from less than 0.4% of patients experiencing complications to now more than 267% experiencing them.
“I think what we’re seeing in the statistics is that people are being pushed to the limit and having these complications, likely because of that,” said Dr. Bhavik Kumar, Medical Director for Primary & Trans Care for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.
Complications like: 5 patients with sepsis, 34 patients hemorrhaging, and one death.
“Which is extremely rare. I’ve never seen that in my career,” said Dr. Kumar.
Haley asks: “I mean, seeing more than 100 complications in one year. I mean, does that mean that where these women are going or what they’re doing to achieve an abortion is now unsafe?”
“The problem, I think, is that, again, people are being forced to wait. I also see patients that are saying, you know, they weren’t sure if they should come in. They weren’t sure if they should wait. They weren’t sure if they could go to the emergency room,” said Dr. Kumar.
2021 was the last full year without a ban - since then, there have been 52,446 *fewer* abortions in Texas.
“They accomplished fewer abortions in Texas. But does it mean fewer Texans are having abortions? They’re just going out of state. So they’ve really just displaced people and traumatized people.”
And some say it’s decreasing the number of medical students wanting to become physicians in Texas.
The Association of American Medical Colleges found a 3% decline in med students to states with abortion bans.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “future physicians are choosing where to attend residency based on state abortion policies.”
This indicates access to abortion care is changing the landscape of medical practice.
”It’s difficult for them to get exposure to that because we’re not doing, the kind of care that we were before. So many med students and even residents are having to go to other states to get this training in a high-volume setting,” said Dr. Kumar.
What about the people who are going to watch this and say, if that’s what they want to practice, I don’t want them here anyway?
”They want to be able to provide them with the most information that they can give them their options. We go to school for over a decade. We have a lot of training, we have a lot of information, and we want to be able to help the person that’s in front of us, the human being that’s there with a name and a story and not have to think what information can I say or can’t say based on where I am, what things do I have to hide from my patient because a law was passed?”
In Zurawski’s case, she didn’t have the option for that care and it basically ruined her chance of having another child.
“One of my fallopian tubes is permanently closed from the scar tissue. My uterus had collapsed. He had to rebuild that surgically. And then on top of all of that, the condition of incompetent cervix. Because it happened to me once, it’s more likely to happen to me again. And, you know, the law hasn’t changed,” said Zurawski.
Agree with it or not Zurawski said she’s *not* aiming to reverse the ban. She just wants clarity on the law that has lives on the line.
“Just clarity to the way the law is written and what constitutes a medical exemption, and when can doctors act and when can they not? And honestly, that’s the very bare minimum,” said Zurawski. “And it’s insane to me to think about the fact that we have to ask the state to grant permission to physicians to be able to do their job.”
Looking past the lawsuit - she says there’s still hope..
“She took a piece of my heart with her that I’ll never get back. But she replaced it with her strength and it monumental,” said Zurawski. “We still very much want children. My ability to carry has been compromised, so, we’ll have to pursue a different route. But we are hopeful.”
Abortion ban prompts more people to seek early ultrasounds
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, many healthcare providers say an increasing number of patients are deciding the fate of their pregnancies based on whatever information they can gather before state bans kick in. But early ultrasounds show far less about the condition of a fetus than later ones. And genetic screenings may be inaccurate. Read more about that here.