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A group of Texas women are suing their state government over its abortion ban, saying the legislation which enacted it is too vague and left doctors unable to provide necessary care to protect their health as well as the health of their fetuses.
The suit was filed by five women who sought abortions after the Texas ban went into effect and were denied despite the risk and harm that their pregnancies posed to their health and that of their fetuses or future children.
Under the Texas state law, no pregnancy in which a fetal heartbeat may be detected can be aborted. The law does not include exceptions for cases of incest or rape. The law states all abortions are criminalized as such “unless the mother’s life is in danger” without specifying when the procedure can be performed, leaving many doctors at a loss for when to intervene.
The plaintiffs, who also include two Texas OB/GYNs, are being represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights. This is the first lawsuit in which individual women are suing a state over harm they experienced due to abortion access being limited by the law.
One of the plaintiffs, 35-year-old Amanda Zurawski, was in the second trimester of her first pregnancy when she was diagnosed with a condition known as cervical insufficiency, which occurs when the cervix ruptures prematurely and is a common cause of late miscarriages.
