Following the enshrined rights for safe and legal abortion, states are banning or severely limiting the procedure. A woman in Texas had to carry her foul discharge to the hospital, just to prove the infection was killing her. Here’s the full story.
Woman ‘granted’ abortion in Texas
Following the SCOTUS’ move of overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, several states are coming up with laws to ban or limit abortions. The untested bans are leaving doctors unsure of treating complicated pregnancies which may be mistaken for abortions. This is exactly what happened to a woman in Texas. According to an NPR report, she had to carry her putrid discharge to the hospital to show the infection was killing her. However, this incident occurred in May and was due to the state’s Heartbeat Bill.
“Abortions are sometimes needed out of an act of an emergency, out of an act of saving a woman’s life. Or hell. Honestly, it shouldn’t even get to the point where you’re having to save a woman’s life,” stated Elizabeth Weller. The 26-year-old had to go through this to prove she was in danger of ending the pregnancy threatening her life.
More on the case and aftermath
Weller was 19 weeks along and her water broke prematurely. Hence, her body did not have enough amniotic fluid to continue the pregnancy. Doctors informed her that the fetus may die or struggle to survive. During this time, the fetus’ heart was beating and the medical staff at the Houston hospital felt she was not in danger as they were fearing to break the state’s ban on abortion after the sixth week despite the symptoms of chorioamnionitis. Chorioamnionitis is a condition where bacteria infect the amnion and chorion, the membranes surrounding the fetus in addition to the fluid. This can lead to several risks including to the lives of both the mother and fetus.
Hence, hospital officials suggested going home to wait for her fetus to die. Her other option was to wait at the hospital to become ill enough so that she can qualify for Texas’s “medical emergency”. This situation among several others brings up several horrifying questions. How many more such incidents took place across the US following the ruling? How many more people should go through life-threatening situations due to legal restrictions?