AUSTIN, Texas (CN) — During a hearing in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, three Texas women shared their harrowing experiences of being denied abortions even though the fetuses were no longer viable and their lives at risk.
The plaintiffs, which include 13 women and two doctors, want a judge to affirm doctors are exempt from Texas’ anti-abortion restrictions when the pregnancy poses a risk to the health of the mother.
The historic lawsuit is the first of its kind since the U.S. Supreme Court ended nearly 50 years of the constitutional right to an abortion in its 2022 decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Wednesday's hearing was the first of a two-day proceeding in which Judge Jessica Mangrum weighs whether to temporarily block the law from applying to women whose pregnancies pose emergent medical risks. Conversely, the state wants Mangrum to dismiss the case.
One of the plaintiffs, Samantha Casiano testified of her experience of having a non-viable pregnancy in Texas. Around 20 weeks into her pregnancy, Casiano’s baby was diagnosed with anencephaly, a fatal birth defect in which parts of the skull or brain are not fully developed. She was not offered an abortion by her physician, specifically citing the state's laws criminalizing the procedure.
Casiano described her feeling of grief turning to fear as she searched for options, including traveling out of state to obtain an abortion. She decided against doing so over legal concerns. Shortly after giving birth to her daughter, named Halo, Casiano said that her daughter came into the world gasping for air until she was inevitably pronounced dead. Casiano said that her only wish was that she had the opportunity to send her daughter to heaven sooner instead of waiting.
“I had to watch my baby suffer,” said Casiano, speaking through her tears. “There was no mercy for her [at the hospital].”
Casiano joined the lawsuit in May along with seven other women who had similar experiences.
Lead plaintiff Amanda Zurawski and co-plaintiff Ashely Brandt also shared their stories with the court, often fighting back tears. Zurawski, Brandt and Casiano said they blame Texas lawmakers for what happened to them.
Assistant Attorney General Amy Pletscher sought to redirect the blame and place it back on the medical providers who refused to offer them abortions.
"The blame directed at defendants is misplaced," said Pletscher in her opening argument. "Rather, plaintiffs sustained their alleged injuries as a direct result of their own medical providers failing them.”
Damla Karsan, an obstetrician who practices in Houston, was the last person to testify. She said that in light of Texas’ abortion bans, she has stopped offering abortion care to patients who are experiencing complications or whose babies are no longer viable.
“I’ve always tried to practice within the standard of care, but I also want to be a law-abiding citizen. I don’t want to risk my freedom and my livelihood,” said Karsan.
The solution, Karsan testified, is for physicians such as herself to be exempt from the law entirely when providing care to patients with complications or non-viable pregnancies. She and the other plaintiffs said such an exemption would save women's lives and prevent the trauma the plaintiffs say they endured.
In Texas, a physician found guilty of providing an abortion faces up to 99 years in prison and a minimum fine of $100,000, as well as the loss of their medical license. In addition to the state’s trigger law that automatically outlawed abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a civil statute known as the Texas Heartbeat Act remains active and allows private citizens to sue anyone who performs or helped someone obtain an abortion for a minimum of $10,000.
The plaintiffs recognize that both laws in question contain exemptions for people whose lives are at risk due to pregnancy. However, they testified doctors don't trust the exemptions will apply to them.
The hearing will continue Thursday with the plaintiffs calling more physicians named in the lawsuit to testify as well as women who were denied abortions.
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