She took a swipe of the new discharge, and placed the toilet paper in a Ziploc bag to carry with her. Such a rupture can be life-threatening. Double your gift when you give by 6 p.m. Thursday. She and her husband began trying in late 2021. But she did not know who the biological father was. They also have abortion is permitted to protect the life of the mother or her from serious bodily harm that would result if an abortion is not performed. Like other physicians, Dr. Palmer said she was uncertain whether counseling that patient about all of her options, including terminating the pregnancy outside Texas, would have been considered aiding and abetting., The law is murky, but heres the bottom line, she said. Her husband took over, asking the doctor what, if anything, they could do. The law, which still remains in effect, does contain one exception for a "medical emergency." The staff remained vague about what came next, Elizabeth recalls. An ectopic pregnancy is 100% fatal if . Aborting the embryo is often the best treatment for an ectopic . SB 8, which was signed into law by Texas Gov. They're not allowed to do that in Texas. Her doctor said she had been calling other hospitals, but none of them would help. Dr. John Thoppil, an obstetrician in Austin, doesnt perform abortions, providing prenatal care and delivering babies. But the new Texas law has profoundly affected his ability to practice. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. "I ripped my organs out" to avoid that, she said. We want to keep you safe.. To Elizabeth, termination also felt like the most merciful option for her fetus. Some people experience loss of pregnancy at home and don't require additional care, other than emotional support, said Dr. Tony Ogburn, who chairs the OB-GYN department at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. (Texas Hospital Licensing Law); (3) an institution required to be licensed under . Whether an ectopic pregnancy is legal will depend on individual state laws. To Dr. Peaceman at Northwestern, it sounded like the hospital's clinicians were using the most common clinical signs of chorioamnionitis as a guideline. But even from a young age, she had a lot of questions about what she saw as a deeply unforgiving idea. A doctor hugs a patient at an abortion clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on 13 January 2023. She had cramps, and was passing clots of blood. Although distraught and heartbroken at this news, Elizabeth forced herself to think it through. If she had any physical ailments, I would never abort her for that issue. Elizabeth was 18 weeks pregnant. As a result, she was checked into a hospital and underwent a D&C. However, after the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, abortion laws and restrictions are now implemented by state, resulting in trigger laws or complete bans. Treatments for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies are still legal under the states abortion ban, according to state law and legal experts. The pregnancy made it impossible to remove the device, Dr. Thoppil said. "The pharmacy has said, 'We don't know whether or not you might be using this medication for the purposes of abortion,'" she said. How are you doing, and are you excited for the delivery?'". Elizabeth's experience amounts to a kind of medical trauma, which is layered on top of the grief of pregnancy loss, says Elaine Cavazos, a psychotherapist specializing in the perinatal period, and the chief clinical officer of Reproductive Psychiatry and Counseling in Austin. So I'm here to call you to register for your delivery on October 5th, so I can collect all your insurance information. A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the name and location of a clinic. Disclosure: Southern Methodist University, Texas Medical Association and New York Times have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Elizabeth has been sharing her story, and has found that whatever the political affiliation of the listener, they all agree her experience was horrible. For patients who are not pregnant, it can also open up the cervix and make surgeries safer, Crawford said. The fetus had a rare neural tube defect. I couldn't give you life. Another area of Texas law that Seago cited provides an exception to the state's abortion restrictions if the mother's life is in danger or she's at "serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function" unless an abortion is performed. New, untested abortion bans have made doctors unsure about treating some pregnancy complications, which has led to life-threatening delays and trapped families in a limbo of grief and helplessness. "Ectopic pregnancy" means the implantation of a fertilized egg or embryo outside of the uterus. Wade and the return of laws governing abortion legality to the states. Hall, raised in a conservative Christian family outside Dallas, felt like she had whiplash from the sudden and tragic events that had brought her to an abortion clinic halfway across the country. A wait for fetal death, or her own encroaching illness. It's an emotional and legal dilemma that potentially faces not just obstetricians and midwives, but also family physicians, emergency physicians, pharmacists, and anyone else who might become involved with pregnancy care. "Not because I wanted my baby to die, but because I needed this hell to end. It was May 10, 2022. Halls maternal-fetal medicine specialist laid out the best-case scenario: If she managed to carry to term and deliver a live baby, with miracles of medicine, science and technology, they might be able to keep her alive for a few weeks, tied to machines and without hope of recovery. Just a few months before the Texas legislature passed the new law, Dr. Robert Gunby Jr., an obstetrician in Dallas, was caring for a pregnant newlywed who suddenly started losing weight. Texas Gov. Hall was 18 weeks along when she went in for hers on a Friday afternoon. In some cases, the infection can become severe or life-threatening, leading to sepsis, hysterectomy or even death. But for patients facing a medical emergency, or low-income or uninsured Texans, seeking a second opinion may not be possible. If an ectopic pregnancy has ruptured, the pregnant person needs care immediately because they could start bleeding and lose up to 2 liters up blood very quickly. If she wanted to stay in Texas, Halls only choice was to continue with a pregnancy that would not yield a healthy, living baby. Nitsch says she chose sterilization at age 36 rather than risk getting pregnant by another rapist. However, if the ectopic pregnancy is located in the cervix or on the scar tissue from a cesarean section, the treatment could be the same as an abortion, according to Addante. Eventually, she laid out their options: Keep carrying the pregnancy or leave Texas to get an abortion. But now "your medical provider says that it's illegal and they can't provide it. Austin woman trying for baby says Texas abortion law nearly caused her death. Sometimes, she said, a woman has a spontaneous miscarriage and is heavily bleeding, but the fetus has not passed and cardiac activity can still be detected. Texas abortion laws make no exception for these cases, which are not as rare as people would like to imagine, said Dr. John Thoppil, an Austin OB-GYN and president of the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Elizabeth and James keep remembrances of their baby in a picture frame at home. The color was darker and the odor was foul. Julia Robinson for NPR But that comes with the same significant risks that accompany a viable pregnancy, said Dr. CeCe Cheng, a high-risk OB-GYN in San Antonio. 5:22-cv-185-h (n.d. Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. And she says 'Yes. The definition of abortion in Texas Health and Safety Code explicitly states an act that is done to "remove an ectopic pregnancy" is not defined as an abortion. Question women in America now have to ask. In Texas' anti-abortion . Very young rape victims tend to seek prenatal care late, and they are more likely to have small babies that score poorly on tests of heart rate and muscle tone given immediately after birth. One Texas law passed last year lists several medications as abortion-inducing drugs and largely bars their use for abortion after the seventh week of pregnancy. Elizabeth chose to go home rather than wait to get sick at the hospital. Hall managed not to scream any of this at the protesters, instead just silently flipping them off. Many of the patients that we see in my practice already have to drive so far away to get basic prenatal care, Cheng said. In Texas, a 2021 law made it easier to sue anyone who helps a person get an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. Confusion around the laws has caused issues for patients outside of emergencies. What youre really worried about is that period of time when whats going to be a miscarriage, if you let it take a natural course, might cause severe suffering, and/or death to the mother, to the pregnant person, she said. She and her husband booked outrageously expensive last-minute flights, got a hotel and, four days after they got the news that upended their world, flew out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. About 10% to 20% of confirmed pregnancies end in miscarriages, but estimates are as high as 30% to 50% for all pregnancies, including those in which a person may not know of the pregnancy. She recalls looking at her baby's little hands and crying. Coming back to Texas a few days later only amplified those feelings. "I was just laying in bed, you know, wondering: Am I pregnant or am I not pregnant? "It's this woman who was saying 'Hi Miss Weller, you're at the 19 week mark. 678, Sec. She was admitted to the hospital, and later that night, when her own obstetrician called, she begged her for information. But as has been true in Texas and in many of the 12 other states where abortion is banned . Notably, under Texas' law, at least one patient was told to wait until her ectopic pregnancy ruptured her fallopian tubewhich would have put her at immediate risk of death from hemorrhage . If someone is hemorrhaging while miscarrying, how long do I have to wait?. "And that may mean in certain circumstances protecting the mother in this situation and the child passing away.". These are the patients that are the most affected.. "I told her 'Look, Doctor, people around me are telling me to keep hope. In cases in which a medical provider may be hesitant to conduct a needed treatment, itll be critical for patients to stay informed, seek help or get more than one medical opinion, said Joanna Grossman, a professor at Southern Methodist Universitys Dedman School of Law. 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