Texas Democrats introduced an abortion ban in the US state after reports of a Houston woman’s death due to a miscarriage

Houston, Texas – In the days before the election, both parties are stepping up their efforts to influence voters on priority issues.

In Texas, there are state restrictions on abortion and women’s reproductive rights a hotly debated topic in the current election cycle.

Group Texas legislators, Democratsdoctors and defenders of women’s reproductive rights held a press conference in response to: a recently published article detailing the circumstances that led to the deaths of two pregnant women who died after doctors reportedly delayed providing emergency care Texas Senate Bill 8.

“We’re here to talk about what’s happening with reproductive health care in Texas, why it’s happening and what we can do about it,” Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Houston) said at a news conference Thursday.

Josseli Barnica, 28, was 17 weeks pregnant with her second child when she suffered a miscarriage in 2021.

According to a report by ProPublicaBarnica lay in a Houston hospital bed for 40 hours, dilated and her uterus exposed to bacteria, before giving birth to her deceased son.

Barnica’s husband said the medical team told her they couldn’t act until a fetal heartbeat was detected. She died of sepsis three days later.

“It certainly appears this death could have been prevented, but state law did not allow it,” said Dr. Todd Ivey, a Houston obstetrician and women’s health advocate.

It happened on September 3, 2021, just at two o’clock days after Texas passed SB 8, the so-called “fetal heartbeat bill.” Bans abortions after six weeks unless certain medical exceptions are met.

“Today, our poorly written, unclear regulations are even more restrictive and can result in life imprisonment and loss of driving license. The result: women are dying unnecessarily,” Ivey said.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a case that would decide whether emergency abortions are federally protected for critical health care.

In response, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in part: “This is a major SCOTUS victory that will protect Texas health care providers from being forced to violate state law… No doctor in Texas should be forced to violate his conscience or law simply to do his job . We successfully sued and stopped the Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to repeal state abortion laws.

The issue of abortion rights has been a major campaign issue among Democrats across the country, including the closely watched Texas Senate race. Thursday’s press conference reinforced that message.

“This is using health care for political purposes,” said Dr. Damla Karsan, a Houston gynecologist and one of two physician plaintiffs in the Zurawski v. State of Texas case. “It’s a shame that in a country that has the resources and technology that we have, this happens to women.”

The timing of this event is not surprising because Democrats have made abortion restrictions an important campaign issue.

The group supports the election of Democrats on November 5.

ProPublica says the goal of its reporting is to fill gaps in knowledge about the consequences of abortion bans.