five women are suing Texas after they were denied abortions, even as their pregnancies posed serious risk to their health and were nonviable. The Center for Reproductive Rights is bringing the lawsuit on behalf of women and two doctors. They held a news conference Tuesday in Austin. We begin with Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, who introduced Amanda Zurawski.
The Supreme Court’s unwarranted reversal of Roe v. Wade has resulted in a healthcare crisis in states across the nation, including here in the state of Texas. It is now dangerous to be pregnant in Texas. Doctors and hospitals are turning patients away, even those in medical emergencies. Patients are being denied necessary, life-saving obstetrical care. Why? Because abortion is a crime in Texas, punishable by up to 99 years in prison. What the law is forcing physicians to do is weigh these very real threats of criminal prosecution against the health and well-being of their patients.
We filed this lawsuit last night to stop the unnecessary pain, suffering, injury and life-threatening complications caused by Texas’s abortion ban. We filed this lawsuit so that patients will not be hindered, delayed or denied necessary obstetrical care, including abortion care.
This is the first lawsuit of its kind. It is the first lawsuit in which individual women have sued a state for the harm that they endured because abortion care
— source democracynow.org | Mar 10, 2023