New TxPEP research in The New England Journal of Medicine: “A Preview of the Dangerous Future of Abortion Bans — Texas Senate Bill 8” has found that the abortion restrictions in Senate Bill 8 have created a chilling effect for providers and adversely affected patients experiencing medical complications during their pregnancy.
We interviewed 25 clinicians across Texas who cared for pregnant patients with maternal and fetal complications. This included maternal and fetal medicine specialists, obstetrician-gynecologists, and genetic counselors. We also interviewed pregnant patients who had maternal health complications or received a concerning diagnosis and tried to access abortion care in Texas or out of state.
Patients with medically complex pregnancies are reporting that they are waiting until they are “sick enough” to receive live-saving care, and physicians are feeling like they are becoming “worse doctors.”
And what will happen if the Supreme Court rules in Dobbs to leave the right to abortion to be decided by the states and it becomes outlawed in some places? Physicians and institutions are going to have diverse interpretations of the very narrow exemptions allowed under abortion bans. This will compromise pregnant people’s ability to get the evidence-based health care they need.
We can expect to see that more pregnant patients will be forced to wait until they are sick enough to get care and as a result they will be put in potentially dangerous circumstances.