Two weeks ago, in a case where a group of 20 Texas women and two doctors were suing the state for denying an abortion procedure that put their own lives at risk, she said that the abortion ban contained language that rendered the suit unnecessary, because the language in the ban allowed abortions in the case of “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy” that put the mother at risk of death or serious physical impairment.
First, Klusmann argued that the women had no standing to challenge the 2021 law — because it targeted doctors, not pregnant women themselves.
Second, she argued that women with complicated and dangerous pregnancies should have no problem obtaining abortions under the law, and that they should be taking up their grievances with the doctors who had denied them the procedures they now argued were medically necessary rather than the state.
A woman risking death if she doesn’t get an abortion, Klusmann argued, would clearly “qualify for a medical emergency exemption. And so, if she has to come to court to make that happen, that is not the state’s fault.”
Fast forward to yesterday.
Unfortunately, her fetus has Trisomy 18, a severe genetic disorder. 95 percent of such pregnancies do not make it to term or are stillborn. Half of those born with the condition do not survive beyond the first week; 9 out of 10 die within the first year. Carrying this fetus to term aggravates the risk of Cox getting sepsis.
Continuing the pregnancy would put her at high risk of hypertension, gestational diabetes and infection. Doctors have told Cox that if the baby’s heartbeat were to stop, inducing labor would carry a risk of a uterine rupture because of her prior cesareans sections, and that another C-section at full term would would endanger her ability to carry another child. A district court had agreed with her and granted her an abortion exception.
Now the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton has threatened any doctor or hospital that aids her in her pursuit and the Texas Supreme Court has granted an emergency stay.
So much for the medical exception. If I was Klusmann I would quit right now or at least fess up and admit that she either lied or was manipulated or maybe doesn't really care what happens to women in these situations.
What I found most pernicious were the briefs submitted by groups like the Texas Right to Life.
“Every child is uniquely precious and should continue to be protected in law no matter how long or short the baby’s life may be,” the group said in a statement. “The compassionate approach to these heartbreaking diagnoses is perinatal palliative care, which honors, rather than ends, the child’s life.”
Forget the health of the mother, every child, no matter how unable to survive, must be brought to term. There is no medical exception. Another pro life group said that she needed to grieve properly for her child and that would only happen if it was allowed to live as long as it could survive.
Emily Porter, M.D, criticized Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for saying that "nothing can restore the unborn child's life that will be lost as a result."
In response, Porter said: "The fetus has a 100% LETHAL chromosomal anomaly. The life was lost at fertilization. Paxton is trying to play God."
Theologians and judges are now making medical decisions for mothers, not doctors. Obviously, pro lifers place the value of the life of a damaged fetus over the life of a mother. Babies must be carried to term, no matter what. If a mother dies, it is god's will. This is why abortion bans have been voted down in every state where they were allowed to go on the ballot. Because of the dishonesty and outright lies of people like Beth Klusmann and Ken Paxton.
Who could ever trust them?
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