Oh, That’s Better! 🙄

People should calm down. pic.twitter.com/TVmwRx4yWR

— Shaun Marksbury (@marksbury) October 7, 2024

In law, yes. In practice, Texas is the poster child for maternal deaths (spiked after the law was passed); women refused healthcare until they are nearly dead; women pursued by Paxton for leaving the state to seek healthcare where it is legal; and even a city that wants to ban women from traveling through it on the way to healthcare in New Mexico or Colorado.

Colin Allred is running an ad with three women denied healthcare in Texas. A PAC is running a third, about her experience when the instruments she needed after delivery were locked away because they were also used for abortions. She nearly bled to death before they could be recovered and used. 

But it’s okay, because Texas is not in conflict with federal law. Not on paper, anyway. Not according to the Supremes.

The administration also cited a Texas Supreme Court ruling that said doctors do not have to wait until a woman’s life is in immediate danger to provide an abortion legally. The administration said it brings Texas in line with federal law and means the lower court ruling is not necessary.

What the Texas Supreme Court actually said was, the Texas medical board needed to draw up guidelines on when the life of the mother was at risk sufficient to meet the law. The board has declined to do so, and doctors have declined to risk jail, preferring malpractice suits (which insurance will cover), instead. Same with hospitals, who control what services doctors can provide.

O, what a paradise it seems!