{"id":1643,"date":"2012-03-16T11:29:46","date_gmt":"2012-03-16T10:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?p=1643"},"modified":"2012-03-19T20:24:27","modified_gmt":"2012-03-19T19:24:27","slug":"how-abortion-law-works-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/03\/16\/how-abortion-law-works-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"How Abortion Law Works in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember a little while ago there was a rash of proposals in the US that’d force women to see a sonogram of the foetus, or to listen to detailed descriptions of it, before having an abortion?<\/p>\n

Yeah: them.\u00a0 Well, via Ophelia<\/a>, here’s an account of what really happens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Halfway through my pregnancy, I learned that my baby was ill. Profoundly so.\u00a0[…] \u201cI\u2019m worried about your baby\u2019s head shape,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI want you to see a specialist\u2014now.\u201d<\/p>\n

[… B]efore I\u2019d even known I was pregnant, a molecular flaw had determined that our son\u2019s brain, spine and legs wouldn\u2019t develop correctly. \u00a0If he were to make it to term\u2014something our doctor couldn\u2019t guarantee\u2014he\u2019d need a lifetime of medical care.\u00a0 From the moment he was born, my doctor told us, our son would suffer greatly.<\/p>\n

So, softly, haltingly, my husband asked about termination.\u00a0 The doctor shot me a glance that said: Are you okay to hear this now? \u00a0I nodded, clenched my fists and focused on the cowboy boots beneath her scrubs.<\/p>\n

She started with an apology[…]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s not a good start, is it?\u00a0 An expression of sympathy, maybe.\u00a0 But an apology<\/em>?\u00a0 It’s as if she knows that things are about to get worse.\u00a0 And they are.<\/p>\n

My counselor said that the law required me to have another ultrasound that day, and that I was legally obligated to hear a doctor describe my baby. I\u2019d then have to wait 24 hours before coming back for the procedure. She said that I could either see the sonogram or listen to the baby\u2019s heartbeat, adding weakly that this choice was mine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want<\/em> to have to do this at all,\u201d I told her. \u201cI\u2019m doing this to prevent my baby\u2019s suffering. I don\u2019t want<\/em> another sonogram when I\u2019ve already had two today. I don\u2019t want<\/em> to hear a description of the life I\u2019m about to end. Please,\u201d I said, \u201cI can\u2019t take any more pain.\u201d I confess that I don\u2019t know why I said that. I knew it was fait accompli<\/em>.\u00a0 The counselor could no more change the government requirement than I could. \u00a0Yet here was a superfluous layer of torment piled upon an already horrific day, and I wanted this woman to know it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no choice but to comply with the law,\u201d she said, adding that these requirements were not what Planned Parenthood would choose.\u00a0 Then, with a warmth that belied the materials in her hand, she took me through the rules.\u00a0 First, she told me about my rights regarding child support and adoption.\u00a0 Then she gave me information about the state inspection of the clinic.\u00a0 She offered me a pamphlet called A Woman\u2019s Right to Know<\/em>, saying that it described my baby\u2019s development as well as how the abortion procedure works.\u00a0 She gave me a list of agencies that offer free sonograms, and which, by law, have no affiliation with abortion providers.\u00a0 Finally, after having me sign reams of paper, she led me to the doctor who\u2019d perform the sonography, and later the termination.<\/p>\n

The doctor and nurse were professional and kind, and it was clear that they understood our sorrow.\u00a0 They too apologized for what they had to do next.\u00a0 For the third time that day, I exposed my stomach to an ultrasound machine, and we saw images of our sick child forming in blurred outlines on the screen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so sorry that I have to do this,\u201d the doctor told us, \u201cbut if I don\u2019t, I can lose my license.\u201d\u00a0 Before he could even start to describe our baby, I began to sob until I could barely breathe. \u00a0Somewhere, a nurse cranked up the volume on a radio, allowing the inane pronouncements of a DJ to dull the doctor\u2019s voice. \u00a0Still, despite the noise, I heard him. \u00a0His unwelcome words echoed off sterile walls while I, trapped on a bed, my feet in stirrups, twisted away from his voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere I see a well-developed diaphragm and here I see four healthy chambers of the heart…\u201d<\/p>\n

I closed my eyes and waited for it to end, as one waits for the car to stop rolling at the end of a terrible accident.<\/p>\n

When the description was finally over, the doctor held up a script and said he was legally obliged to read me information provided by the state.\u00a0 It was about the health dangers of having an abortion, the risks of infection or hemorrhage, the potential for infertility and my increased chance of getting breast cancer.\u00a0 I was reminded that medical benefits may be available for my maternity care and that the baby\u2019s father was liable to provide support, whether he\u2019d agreed to pay for the abortion or not.<\/p>\n

Finally, my doctor folded the paper and put it away: \u201cWhen you come back in 24 hours, the legal side is over.\u00a0 Then we\u2019ll care for you and give you the information you need in the way we think is right.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What can you\u00a0say about that?\u00a0 Gary Trudeau has been talking about this all week here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and here<\/a>.\u00a0 I can’t rival that kind of articulacy.\u00a0 I can’t get much beyond, “What the actual thermonuclear f….?<\/em>”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remember a little while ago there was a rash of proposals in the US that’d force women to see a sonogram of the foetus, or to listen to detailed descriptions of it, before having an abortion? Yeah: them.\u00a0 Well, via Ophelia, here’s an account of what really happens. Halfway through my pregnancy, I learned that […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1240,968,511,591,475,2022,407],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogosphere","category-clinical-ethics","category-in-the-news","category-life-and-death","category-politics","category-reproduction","category-wtf"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Abortion Law Works in Texas - Journal of Medical Ethics blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/03\/16\/how-abortion-law-works-in-texas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Abortion Law Works in Texas - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Remember a little while ago there was a rash of proposals in the US that’d force women to see a sonogram of the foetus, or to listen to detailed descriptions of it, before having an abortion? 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