The office of Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who just appeared in court on securities fraud charges, immediately put a stop to a judge’s injunction against Texas’ inhumane abortion law, making it very clear that the goal of the abortion ban is to punish and intimidate, rather than to save lives.
On Friday, Judge Jessica Mangrum issued a temporary injunction against the abortion ban ruling it unconstitutional and too restrictive for women with serious pregnancy complications after hearing from women who suffered heart-breaking loss, medical torture and cruelty as a result of the law.
“One woman could barely get words out through her tears. Another ran to the restroom as soon as she was done, wordless, wretched sobs wracking her tiny body. A third threw up on the witness stand,” the Texas Tribune reported on the lawsuit brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights in July.
One witness was Amanda Zurawski, who wanted her pregnancy and would like to have children but now cannot due to the damage inflicted upon her body by a septic infection caused by the delay in care deemed necessary to abide by the law.
The rather petulant and gaslighting defense put forth by the state was to blame the doctors and ask the distraught witnesses, “At the end of each tearful testimony, lawyers for the state asked the women the same questions: Did Attorney General Ken Paxton tell you you couldn’t get an abortion? Did anyone, working in any capacity for the state, tell you you couldn’t get an abortion?”
And yet, instead of doing what one would do if the goal is actually to protect the life of women and girls, Paxton’s office immediately filed an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, which served to block the injunction.
Naturally, Paxton’s office referred to the judge as an “activist” — as in, someone who values women’s and girls’ lives.
The “state’s immediate appeal ‘stays an activist Austin judge’s attempt to override Texas abortion laws pending a ruling by the Texas Supreme Court,” said a statement from First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster.’”
What makes this stand out is that the point of the original lawsuit was not to overturn Texas’ abortion law, but rather to force clarification that life- and health-saving measures could be taken by doctors without fear if, for example, they determined that the fetus would not survive after birth.
“State District Court Judge Jessica Mangrum of Austin wrote that the attorney general cannot prosecute doctors who, in their “good faith judgment,” terminate a complicated pregnancy. Mangrum outlined those conditions as a pregnancy that presents a risk of infection; a fetal condition in which the fetus will not survive after birth; or when the pregnant person has a condition that requires regular, invasive treatment,” the Texas Tribune reported on Friday.
So wait, doesn’t that sound like exactly what Republicans are arguing in public is happening? After all, technically their law allows for termination if the mother’s life is in danger.
Yet, that is exactly why the original lawsuit was brought, because doctors do not find it legal to take medical action in a timely manner. In Texas, doctors are not providing necessary pregnancy care out of fear. They face prohibitive fines, the loss of their license, and 99 years in prison should they be found guilty of violating the vague Republican-pushed state abortion ban.
A trial to determine when doctors can take action to save a mother’s health and life has been set for March, inflicting another 8-ish months of damage on the health and lives of women and girls.
Abortion is health- and life-saving medical care.
Who would argue against saving women’s lives and health?
Texas Republicans. They do so by knowing the impact of their law and blocking a judge’s attempt to protect the health of women and girls until the issue can be clarified in March.
In public attempts to justify torture-inducing abortion ban laws, the people behind them often claim that of course, their law protects the life of the mother. But in effect, that is not what happens and they know this. At times, like in this Texas example, they even push to maintain what they know are threatening conditions for mothers.
Now, the public should know it, too, just in case it wasn’t clear already.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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