Texas abortion case puts doctors' agency in treating pregnancy complications in the spotlight

The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday heard a case that could end up deciding whether abortion in the state should be protected under its constitution when it’s provided for medical reasons. Also at stake is the issue of how much agency doctors have to exercise their medical judgment in the treatment of the most complicated pregnancies — a power that the case’s plaintiffs claim has been lost under Texas’ current abortion laws.

The case was brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents two OB-GYNs and 20 patients who were denied abortions because their doctors weren’t sure they were legally allowed to perform them, even if the doctors thought the procedure was medically appropriate to treat their patients’ serious complications. Some of the plaintiffs denied abortions said they were forced to carry a pregnancy to term only to have a stillbirth, watch their newborn die gasping for air, or wait to go into sepsis so that their condition was severe enough that the abortion was warranted.

The plaintiffs don’t blame their doctors. Instead, they are suing the state of Texas because they say the law’s wording, which bans abortions after six weeks except in case of “medical emergencies,” is too vague and doesn’t allow doctors to follow their medical judgment freely, leaving pregnant people vulnerable when facing complications that present serious risks to their own health or preclude the survival of the fetus.