Dozens of pregnant women, some bleeding or in labor, are turned away from ERs despite federal law
apnews.com
More than 100 pregnant women in medical distress who sought help from emergency rooms have been turned away or negligently treated since 2022.

In Texas, where doctors face up to 99 years of prison if convicted of performing an illegal abortion, medical and legal experts say the law is complicating decision-making around emergency pregnancy care.

Although the state law says termination of ectopic pregnancies is not considered abortion, the draconian penalties scare Texas doctors from treating those patients,

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
    36·
    3 months ago

    Alternatively, we could not have laws that jail doctors from doing the right thing.

    The real coward’s choice would be to simply leave the state. These laws are absolutely draconian and awful and there are no good choices.

    • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.worldEnglish
      29·
      3 months ago

      The real coward’s choice would be to simply leave the state

      I have to disagree here. These laws are putting doctors in a position where they cannot help their patients at all. Is it really cowardice to leave one state where you cannot help your patients at all in order to move to another state where you can at least help some people?

      Or what about those who have chosen to leave the state, but set up shop juuuuust over the border in a neighboring state so they can at least indirectly continue to provide care to their patients by being as close as possible?

      I don’t blame the doctors for making the choice that they feel will serve the most people in need under these circumstances. The real cowards are the ones who voted for these draconian laws in the first place instead of standing up to their own party and saying “Hey, what the fuck are we doing?”. And the real cowards are the ones who will vote to uphold these laws or re-elect the ghouls who enacted them in the first place. But the doctors are absolutely not the cowards.

    • Fedizen@lemmy.world
      3·
      3 months ago

      Honestly we should have a constitutional amendment that “congress nor the states shall make no law to prevent people from obtaining a medical procedure if they cannot show it is worse than not undergoing the procedure for the person seeking care.” This would also pre-empt trans healthcare bans, as a plus.

      • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        3 months ago

        Way too much wiggle room there.

        “Neither Congress nor the States shall enact any law prohibiting a person from obtaining a medical procedure that the patient and their licensed medical professionals deem necessary to preserve the person’s life or health. Neither Congress nor the States shall enact any law requiring any medical professional from providing any services that violate their religious or personal beliefs.”

        SImple. If abortion is against your own personal or religious beliefs, nobody is forcing you to give one. But Congress can’t just go and stop a person from finding someone willing (and legally qualified) to provide such services if she deems it necessary. Win-win except for the holier-than-thou Karens of the world who feel the need for forcing their viewpoints onto others. They can go fuck a cactus for all I care, though.