Grumet: Tragedies mount for women with ill-fated pregnancies under Texas' abortion bans

Life took a wrenching twist for Jessica Bernardo last fall.

She went from being an elated, expectant mother — listening to audiobooks about pregnancy, teasing her husband about installing child safety gates on the stairs of their Frisco home — to using a private browser on her computer to search for an abortion.

Bernardo desperately wanted the child she named Emma. About 15 weeks into the pregnancy, though, doctors said the child had severe medical conditions and would not survive to birth.

As long as the pregnancy continued, Bernardo was at risk of developing her own complications. Fluid could build up in her heart and lungs. Her kidneys could fail.

But Texas’ abortion laws blocked doctors from intervening just yet.

Bernardo’s health would have to deteriorate first.

“As I grieved,” she said through tears at a press conference, “I couldn't help but think of what I and so many others have gone through as inhumane torture.”

Her story is at once new and horrifyingly familiar. Bernardo publicly shared her ordeal for the first time Monday, months after traveling to Seattle to end her pregnancy and protect her life. But her experience echoes the tragic stories we’ve been hearing for months about Texans who couldn’t get essential care as cherished pregnancies unraveled in a state that treats virtually all abortions as a crime.

“My trusted OB/GYN and general practitioner felt so helpless that all they could offer me was a hug as they sobbed into their shoulders,” Bernardo said. “The state of Texas owes them and us so much more.”

‘This is a public health crisis’

Perhaps you’re thinking: Yeah, I’ve heard this story before.

That’s precisely the problem. These stories continue to happen. Texas hasn’t taken any steps to clarify the maternal health exceptions in Texas’ abortion bans, to ensure women can end a lost pregnancy with dignity, without ending up in the emergency room themselves.

Under Texas’ severe restrictions, doctors are afraid of providing care that could land them in court — facing lengthy prison sentences and six-figure fines — if a patient wasn’t deemed sick enough to terminate a pregnancy.

So some women must wait to get sick enough for care. Or they endure the physical, emotional and financial strain of carrying a doomed pregnancy to term. Or they scramble for the resources to go out of state.

“This is a public health crisis, one that is pervasive, ongoing and government-inflicted,” Molly Duane, senior staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, told reporters Monday. More stories like Bernardo’s “pile up every day.”

Demonstrating that point, Bernardo and seven other women this week joined the lawsuit that five patients and two doctors filed in March against the state of Texas.

The number of plaintiffs now stands at 15.

The lead plaintiff is Amanda Zurawski, the Austin woman who spoke with me last fall about her devastating experience after her water broke at 18 weeks. Zurawski had to go home for a few days and wait for a life-threatening infection to develop before doctors, under Texas law, could end the pregnancy.

Duane said the plaintiffs filed a motion this week asking for a temporary injunction to block Texas’ abortion bans from applying to cases involving pregnancy complications. A hearing on that motion will probably happen this summer.

Seven more cases join the list

Texans hold mixed views on whether abortion should be allowed as a matter of choice. But Texans overwhelmingly support access to such care when the mother’s health is at risk. This should be an area of the law where we can reach agreement.

Unfortunately, some abortion opponents have said Texas’ existing laws are fine, and the tragic stories of denied care are rare events, rooted in misunderstandings of the law.

Which is why it’s important for Texans to keep hearing what is happening to real patients.

Elizabeth Weller of Kingwood joined the lawsuit this week. In a case similar to Zurawski’s, Weller’s water broke at 19 weeks, but doctors couldn’t intervene until she developed an infection days later.

“The darkest week of my life began as I left the hospital with amniotic fluid still leaking down my leg,” Weller told reporters this week. “With every passing day I felt the state's intentional cruelty. My baby would not survive, and my life didn't matter. There was nothing I could do about it.”

Kiersten Hogan of the Dallas-Fort Worth area joined the lawsuit this week. Her water broke at 19 weeks. Doctors kept her in the hospital for days, hoping the fetus could hold on for a few more weeks. She said hospital staff told her she could face criminal charges if she left and her son didn’t survive. He was stillborn five days later

“Texas law caused me to be detained against my will for five days and treated like a criminal, all during the most traumatic and heartbreaking experience I've had in my life to date,” Hogan told reporters.

Taylor Edwards of Austin joined the lawsuit this week. About 17 weeks into her pregnancy, Edwards learned that the daughter she was carrying had a fatal condition in which part of the brain was protruding outside of the skull. Heartbroken, Edwards had to go to Colorado to end the pregnancy.

Kylie Beaton of Fort Worth joined the lawsuit this week. About 20 weeks into her pregnancy, doctors diagnosed a brain condition in which the fetus’ head grows abnormally quickly. At the 28-week checkup, the baby’s head measured at the size of a 39-week fetus, the cutoff for vaginal delivery, but doctors refused to induce labor.

After Beaton was rushed to the hospital at 35 weeks with abdominal pain, she had an emergency Cesarean with a larger-than-normal incision to accommodate the baby’s head. The child died four days after birth.

Samantha Casiano of East Texas joined the lawsuit this week. About 20 weeks into her pregnancy, she learned the child she was carrying had a serious condition in which parts of the brain and skull would not develop at all. She wanted to put her daughter to rest then. Instead, she had to carry the pregnancy to term, then watch as Halo died four hours after birth.

Lauren Van Vleet of Jarrell joined the lawsuit this week. About 22 weeks into her pregnancy, she learned her child had anencephaly, the same condition as Casiano’s child. Family members in Maryland helped her arrange to terminate the pregnancy there. Terrified of legal liability, Van Vleet avoided texting anyone about her plans.

Dr. Austin Dennard of Dallas joined the lawsuit this week. Last summer, just 11 weeks into her pregnancy, she also received a diagnosis of anencephaly, a condition Dennard knew was not compatible with survival. She traveled out of state to end the pregnancy.

Then in March, she saw one of her own patients, Lauren Miller, was among the first five plaintiffs to sue Texas over its abortion laws interfering with necessary care for pregnancy complications. Dennard decided to join and tell her story, too.

These cases are not aberrations. They will keep happening as long as Texas law puts doctors in fear of prison time and massive fines for ending a pregnancy, even when it’s clear the pregnancy is no longer viable.

How many names will Texas keep adding?

When will enough be enough?

Grumet is the Statesman’s Metro columnist. Her column, ATX in Context, contains her opinions. Share yours via email at bgrumet@statesman.com or via Twitter at @bgrumet. Find her previous work at statesman.com/news/columns.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Grumet: Texas' abortion bans inflict growing toll on expectant mothers