The life of the mother at the heart of the debates

(Austin, Texas) “To wear a child in his belly knowing that he will die is debilitating; I felt like an itinerant coffin, ”says Kaitlyn Kash, met in her Austin residence. Her blue eyes become serious when she talks about the significant anomaly diagnosed with her fetus in 2021. And the subsequent abortion obtained outside Texas, after 17 weeks of pregnancy.

The 38 -year -old organizational development strategist militates to recognize the difficulties linked to the complications of pregnancy in its state.

“I think it is important to show women that we never know how our reproductive journey will take place,” said the mother of two children, who testified in March before a committee of elected officials called to clarify exceptions to the laws on abortion.

Rare exceptions

The voluntary termination of pregnancy is permitted in Texas only in the event of a serious medical emergency. No exception is planned for an un viable fetus or a pregnancy resulting from rape.

Doctors risk up to 99 years in prison, the loss of their medical license and a salty fine for an illegal abortion. The patient is not targeted by the legislative provisions, but anyone who has facilitated a voluntary termination of pregnancy is exposed to prosecution.

Since the implementation in 2021 of a law to prohibit abortion after the detection of a fetal heart beat, around six weeks of gestation, and laws criminalizing abortion in 2022, many cases have been publicized on the risks of late medical intervention.

At least two women died of an infection after the implementation of the law in 2021. Doctors would not have acted quickly enough during their false layers, while a fetal heart beat was always audible.

The Examination Committee on Maternal Mortality in Texas has not published again on its site since December 2022.

Bippartisan agreement and new law

In a rare Bipartisan understanding, the elected officials of the two chambers of Texas adopted in the spring Law for the life of the motherwith the intention of clarifying the exceptions for medical emergency.

The series of modifications to existing laws specifies that the danger of death does not have to be imminent for a doctor to proceed with abortion which would save the life of the pregnant woman. An exception is also provided to allow pregnancy interruption in order to preserve an important physical function.

A news welcomed with relief by doctors.

“It is believed that this law is a significant improvement to allow doctors to give the best possible care to women with risk pregnancy,” reacted the D^R Ezequiel Silva, Chairman of the Council on the legislation of the Texas Medical Association, in a telephone interview.

The organization represents some 59,000 members of the profession. The D^R Silva, radiologist of San Antonio, participated in discussions with elected officials before the adoption of the law.

“We are doctors, not lawyers, and the laws around reproductive care in our state are quite complex,” he adds. So it made the doctors received different instructions on what they could do, or not, treating a woman with a complicated pregnancy. »»

Variable directives

The American media Propublica has written many articles on the subject. One of them, published in May, revealed that the directives vary greatly from one medical establishment to another – advancing a direct cause and effect link with the subsequent complications.

The risks of septicemia, a potentially fatal generalized infection, have increased by 50 % in Texas since 2021 for women hospitalized after the loss of the fetus during the second quarter, according to a media survey.

“In the hospital where I work, we have an excellent obstetric emergency committee of ethical maternity to answer questions at any time, so I feel really supported in emergency situations, and that is also part of the new law to improve education on the subject,” said the D Directors^D Deborah Fuller, obstetrician-gynecologist in Dallas.

No doctor has been imprisoned for illegal abortion since the adoption of the law in the summer of 2022.

Governor Greg Abbott signed the new Mother’s life law.

Skepticism

Even if pro-Choix activists denounced the lack of clarity on medical emergencies, the bill was welcomed with skepticism. Its author, Senator Bryan Hughes, is known for his anti -avoly positions, and is also behind the law on the detection of the heart.

The new law also excludes threats to the life of the mother caused by mental health problems.

“The fact that the same person is working on bills should give an indicator of what they really try to do with that,” says Astrid Ackerman, a lawyer for the Center for Reproductive Rights, attached to the phone. She sees it as an attempt to “make political gains” with public opinion, shocked by testimonies.

The organization supported about twenty women in a pursuit against Texas in 2023, to request the clarification of medical emergencies, but, also, to assert the abortions in the event of fatal anomalies of the fetus. CAUSE Zurawski c. Texas raised the debates.

Kaitlyn Kash was a part of it. The Supreme Court of Texas dismissed them last year, judging the exceptions.

The new law is too little, too late, in his eyes. Her voice continues to betray her great anger when she talks about her abortion in Kansas, after the diagnosis of her fetus, but also of her two false strata and post-party hemorrhage in 2023 for which she considers that care was late.

As a supporter of the free choice, she opposes the legal provisions currently in force in Texas. But above all she wishes to make accepting the right to abortion in cases of serious anomalies of the fetus.

“I will continue to fight until the mourning women and mothers who are said to be said that their life is now completely upset (due to a serious diagnosis of the fetus) can be supported,” she said.