Texas Woman Forced to Flee State for Medical Care

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A thirty-one-year-old Texas mother of two small children who wants to have more children recently learned that the 20-week fetus she is carrying has trisomy 18, a rare chromosomal disorder that is likely to cause her baby to be stillborn or to die shortly after birth.  The condition also places the mother's health at risk and could keep her from ever being able to become pregnant again.  She and her spouse made the very difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy.  Texas, however, has a near-total abortion ban with the only exception being endangerment to the life of the mother.

The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a request for a restraining order on the woman's behalf arguing that her life and future fertility were at great risk, and on Thursday of last week the state district judge concurred and ruled that the woman could have an abortion in the state of Texas.

But controversial Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, was not happy with that decision which had been handed down by a female judge, and he asked the Texas Supreme Court to quickly weigh-in on the matter.  Paxton warned medical providers that they could be at risk of arrest for helping in what he deemed to be an unnecessary abortion.  On Friday the Texas Supreme Court put a temporary pause on the lower court's order which had allowed the abortion.

On Monday (yesterday), following the Texas Supreme Court's interference the previous Friday, the woman's attorneys announced that she had left the state in order to get medical treatment elsewhere, and that same evening the Texas Supreme Court ruled against the request for an abortion and ordered the lower court to vacate its ruling.

The Texas Supreme Court has nine members, all of whom are elected and all of whom are Republicans.    It includes six males and three females.  One of the males campaigned for his seat on the court by boasting of his multiple arrests for protesting abortion rights.

Clearly, residing in Texas might not be the best choice for women who value the right to make their own health care decisions.  The state appears to be one more ugly chapter in "The Handmaid's Tale."