Texas pregnancy: A Texas mother who had a miscarriage took 40 hours to get help because hospital staff were afraid she would be charged with a crime.
Josseli Barnica, who is 28 years old, was brought to HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest 17 weeks before she gave birth because she was having problems with her pregnancy. She was going to have her second child soon.
A story from ProPublica said that the baby was about to come out and that the mother in Houston had an open cervix. Doctors told the mother that she was “in progress” of miscarrying.
The doctors have told her and her husband that there is nothing they can do until the baby is born. That’s because of Texas law.
Just two days earlier, on 1 September 2021, there had been a “six-week” abortion regulation in the state. This law stated that an abortion could only be performed once the foetus had a heartbeat.
While Barnica wasn’t getting care for almost two days, she got an infection that killed her.
According to her medical reports, she died three days after giving birth on September 8 from “acute bacterial endometritis and cervicitis following a spontaneous abortion.”
“I was sure she would come home,” Barnica’s husband said.
“Josseli Barnica was supposed to be alive today, but she couldn’t get the treatment she needed because of Texas’ cruel abortion ban,” said Colin Allred, a Texas congressman. ”
“We need to make sure that every woman in Texas gets the treatment that could save her life.”
Roe v. Wade had not yet been overturned when Barnica died, but Texas had strict civil penalties for doctors who performed abortions after the sixth week. Patients could sue these doctors for $10,000.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott was a strong supporter of the crackdown on abortions.
Although there are times when the mother’s life is in danger, Texas law does not allow abortions when a foetal heartbeat is detected.
Critics, on the other hand, say that doctors feel cornered because the law is not clear.
Barnia died at HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest, but the hospital has refused to say anything about the scandal.
David Donatti, a senior attorney for the ACLU of Texas, told KVUE that the rules for abortion are not clear and that this is killing people.
Donatti told KVUE that doctors feel torn between being sued by private bounty hunters for civil liability or going to gaol for 99 years for committing medical malpractice that endangers people’s health and income.
But Amy O’Donnell, communications director for Texas Alliance For Life, said Barnica’s death was the fault of her doctors, not the law. Said, “They want to put the blame where it doesn’t belong”
Doctors must adhere to a duty of care and use their best medical judgement to perform life-saving abortions before the mother’s life is in imminent danger, and Texas law allows it.
Deaths are sad, and deaths that could have been avoided are even sadder.
The News of Barnica’s death came on the heels of news of the deaths of two women in Georgia, Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, who were unable to get medical help in time.
A state panel that deals with maternal deaths said the deaths could have been prevented. Georgia generally does not allow abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
