On Friday, a Texas judge ruled the state’s abortion ban was too restrictive in cases of dangerous pregnancy complications. The judge also ruled doctors must be allowed to perform abortions in such instances without risk of criminal prosecution. But within hours of the ruling, Texas’s Attorney General’s Office filed an appeal, effectively blocking the order.
In July, the court in Austin heard testimony from women who sued Texas over its abortion ban. In a dramatic moment, one of the plaintiffs, Samantha Casiano, vomited on the stand as she recounted her traumatic experience. Casiano was forced to carry out her pregnancy even after receiving a diagnosis of anencephaly, a severe congenital disorder that results in a baby being born without portions of his brain and skull. Another plaintiff, Elizabeth Weller, spoke at a press conference.
I think this is a significant ruling in the sense that the testimonies of the women we just heard part of shows how cruel — in fact, I think the word of “torture” is appropriate — that bans on abortion are, the kind of position they put doctors in to have to gamble the lives of pregnant people in order to avoid prosecution. I think it’s
— source democracynow.org | Aug 07, 2023