Houston, Texas (KTRK) – Doctors who perform an abortion in Texas could face a $100,000 fine and life in prison, after the state’s ban went into effect Thursday. This comes after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24.
The law exempts women from criminal prosecution, and criminalizes medical providers to terminate a pregnancy, unless the mother’s life is in danger. But who is ultimately allowed to make that decision? What next in the fight for abortion?
SEE MORE: Texas has launched a law banning nearly all abortions, now in effect
Dr. Lee Bar Eli is practicing as a family physician in Harris County and explained how stressful the past few months have been for medical providers since Roe v. Wade was reversed. She spoke at a news conference Thursday morning, Democratic candidate for Texas, Beto O’Rourke.
“These are life-and-death decisions, and doctors are scared, disorganized and have no idea what the laws are,” Dr. Bar-Eli said. “Doctors are afraid of lawsuits. We don’t know how to read legal documents. So this is a great way to intimidate doctors and hospital systems, and there is a great deal of confusion.”
The confusion that comes from what Professor Seth Chandler of the University of Houston Law Center believes is the ambiguity. ABC13 asked him how to determine if a pregnant woman’s life was in danger.
“The law isn’t explicit about determining the severity of the danger. I think it’s up to the jury in a case where the attorney general felt it was just a risk to the mother’s health. It wasn’t really a matter of life,” Chandler said.
This can put providers in very difficult situations as they have to make a decision in a short amount of time, said Michelle Simpson Tiggle, a victims’ rights attorney.
“If they get this wrong, they could potentially face life imprisonment and a criminal trial,” Twigel said. “If they make the wrong connection on the other end, they have a pregnant woman who doesn’t survive.” “The people affected by these laws are the most vulnerable — undocumented women, women of color, really young girls who didn’t have a choice in getting pregnant, women who don’t always have the resources to make the same choice. Perhaps some of these legislators can do that.”
Elizabeth Wheeler, a graduate student at the University of Houston, discovered earlier this year when she was 18 weeks pregnant that her amniotic sac had burst and her baby wouldn’t survive. She said that doctors did not perform an abortion at the time and sent her home to wait until she contracted an infection or her baby died.
Wheeler said at O’Rourke’s press conference.
Wheeler said she was fortunate enough to have the hospital ethics committee rule in her favour within four days. But she knows that now, many women in Texas won’t have that option. Chandler said it’s possible the state’s trigger law could become stricter.
“Pro-life forces are concerned that the law is not strict enough, as it does not prevent a woman from leaving the country in order to obtain an abortion where it is legal,” he said.
Kimberlyn Schwartz of Texas Right to Life said it will continue efforts to expand SB 8, also known as the “Heartbeat Act,” so that private citizens can also take legal action against a doctor who performs an abortion.
“We estimate that about 10,000 babies were saved because of the pre-Roe v. Wade laws that re-inforced after this decision,” Schwartz said. “Since then, what we’ve seen is nearly every major city in Texas moving to decriminalize abortion.” “We need more tools at our disposal to actually protect babies before birth. We can’t just rely on criminal charges from local politicians, especially those bought and paid by Planned Parenthood.”
Critics of the trigger ban say their focus will be on getting voters to the polls in November, hoping to restore abortion protections.
“If it’s really about life, then they need to put the same energy and care into social services into maternal health care, and they aren’t,” Tigley said.
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