The rise in high-risk patients heading to Illinois hospitals is a result of the abortion ban

The Texas abortion bans softened-quietly after Gov. Greg Abbott signed the ABOVE-Mott-Hopf-Lifshitz bill

According to the Texas Medical Association and the Texas Hospital Association, they were at the time when Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill. Hughes told National Review that “a number of pro-life groups” were also present at the signing. It will go into effect on September 1.

Dr. Thoppil credits Johnson as “a tremendous advocate for women’s health.” He is happy with the new law and thinks it will be helpful. He says the two conditions mentioned are common complications that OB-GYNs see and that the law will help avert some of the heartbreaking circumstances patients have experienced since the bans took effect.

In the legislature, Johnson says Hughes was a big help in lining up key supporters. “I’m glad that we were able to have honest conversations,” she says. Without the Senate having him pass it, this wouldn’t have happened.

Source: To expand abortion access in Texas, a lawmaker gets creative

The Minor Miracle that H.B. 3058 Made Its Senate, and Why Is It Happened That It Was a Minor Miracle?

So it may be surprising that just a few weeks ago, Abbott signed a law giving doctors leeway to provide abortions in Texas when a patient’s water breaks too early and for ectopic pregnancies. There was less attention paid to that signing.

The bill passed with bipartisan support – in the Senate, it passed unanimously – and made it to the governor’s desk in the last few days of the session. George Christian, senior counsel at the Texas Civil Justice League, wrote a post about helping to draft the legislation and called it a “minor miracle”.

“It happened because of the masterful and discreet way that the bill’s House author, Rep. Johnson, and Senate sponsor, Sen. Hughes, handled things in their respective chambers,” he wrote.

Rep. Ann Johnson says she’s proud of H.B. 3058. She states that there were no other pieces of legislation that addressed abortion. The legislation didn’t have the term ” abortion” in it, and that made it not become a political football.

He’s worried about the patients who live in states with abortion bans who never make it to his hospital. They may have medical problems that complicate their pregnancies, yet don’t know how to navigate the logistics required to make their way over state lines to his exam room, or don’t have the financial resources.

After the fetal diagnosis, the patient’s Missouri doctors told her that her life wasn’t in immediate danger, but they also pointed out the risks of carrying the pregnancy to term. There’s a history of hemorrhaging in her family. She could lose her uterus if she started to bleed. The patient said this possibility was devastating. She’s a young mom who wants more children.

A Texas State Representative Ann Johnson has a Problem with Abortion: The Black Letter of the Laws, and the Case of a Patient who Gets Prescribed for Steroids

So a few weeks after the Texas legislative session started at the beginning of the year, she introduced a bill. The bill allowed doctors to provide medically necessary services.

Rep. Ann Johnson does not agree that state agencies or organized medical groups could solve these problems with guidance. “You read the black letter of the law,” she says. When I open the book, it says ‘Abortion means,’ so I don’t get to think about it after I finish it.

In her post, she said that Texas’ health department, the Texas Medical Board, the Texas Medical Association, and the Texas Hospital Association can educate and provide guidance to doctors and hospitals to avoid dangerous situations. “The prolonged silence of the medical, legal, and bureaucratic organizations that could end the confusion is unconscionable,” she wrote.

The patient had a crushing decision to make: continue the pregnancy — which could be a risk to her health and her ability to have children in the future — or have an abortion.

If a woman with no intention of getting pregnant gets a prescription for a steroid, and she becomes pregnant six months later, her unborn child terminates because of that medication, that doctor could get charged with a felony,” Johnson says.

The laws don’t just affect OB-GYNs, Johnson says, pointing to a recent law that imposes criminal penalties on prescribers of certain medications that can cause abortions. She gives the example of methotrexate, a drug used to treat cancer and autoimmune disorders. It can also be used to treat ectopic pregnancies.

The Texas abortion statutes are very confusing, the doctors and hospitals are not allowed to tell patients what to do, and the terminology is difficult to understand.

All of the 14 states that ban abortions allow exceptions to save the lives of the pregnant person, according to a health policy non-profit. But exactly when the person’s life is considered at risk is open to interpretation.

Texas State Representative Ann Johnson has a district that includes the Texas Medical Center. She says after Texas’s abortion bans took effect, her constituents would stop her when she took walks around the district.

Texas’s Republican Governor Greg Abbott addressed a rally earlier this year, celebrating the abortion bans that took effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The 1992 Illinois abortion decision decision made illegal to get an abortion in the U.S., and it has made abortions difficult for a woman in Missouri

She said that she wasn’t able to stop crying for two weeks. The whole world felt very heavy. It’s not a thing that anyone should have to go through. It’s difficult to lose somebody you love.

NPR is not disclosing the woman’s name or the community where she lives, because she fears harm or repercussions if anyone found out. She lives in Missouri, where it’s against the law to have an abortion. Her experience was confirmed by NPR.

The patient had to leave Missouri and cross the border to Illinois, which has become a legal haven for abortion rights. She had an abortion because of her complicated pregnancy.

On June 24, 1992, the decision of the United States Supreme court, dubbed the “Bodsacks decision”, made it illegal to get an abortion in the USA. Doctors in those states fear they could lose their medical licenses or wind up in jail.

But getting each medically-complex patient connected to a doctor and a hospital has been logistically complicated. The governor of Illinois recently launched a program to help people with substance abuse issues. The goal is to get patients who show up at clinics, yet need a higher level of abortion care, connected more quickly with Illinois hospitals. Providers will call a hotline to find out who will handle the logistics.

Medical costs and travel are obstacles for high-risk patients when it comes to seeking abortion care. The patient from Missouri owed around $6,000 for her hospital stay, Laursen said. Her bill was covered by local and national abortion funds. Some hospital bills can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars for more complicated procedures, according to the funds.

It was difficult to understand how the abortion care was provided in hospitals before the law changed, according to Jones. Guttmacher has tracked hospital abortions in the past, but hasn’t updated them in a year.

“It’s very, very difficult to get an exception,” said Alina Salganicoff, director of women’s health policy at KFF. How soon is this threat? And in many cases, patients can’t wait until they’re about to die before they get an abortion.”

Higher medical bills can be brought about by the more complex procedures and hospital stays. More patients now need help covering the expensive price tag of the procedures, according to medical providers and abortion funds that provide financial assistance.

Source: Abortion bans are fueling a rise in high-risk patients heading to Illinois hospitals

Abortion bans are fueling a rise in high-risk patients heading to Illinois hospitals: What is the fastest way to get an abortion?

Laursen stated that the biggest thing was to make space for her to express her emotions. She had to make sure that she felt comfortable with the decisions she was making. Trying to give her the confidence to do things her way.

“I’m constantly hearing stories from my partners across the country of trying to figure out what counts as imminent danger,” Laursen said. “We’re trying to prevent danger. We’re not trying to get to the point where someone is in serious danger.

In Wisconsin, the OB-GYN is known for her high-risk patients. She’s referring more patients to out of state because of the abortion ban in Wisconsin.

She would say that it’s reasonable to get an abortion. But oh, by the way, it’s illegal in your own state. So now on top of this terrible news, I’m going to tell you that you have to figure out how to leave the state to get an abortion.”

If the medical risk is significant enough to satisfy Wisconsin’s life-of-the- mother exception, McIntosh can provide the abortion. But it feels legally risky.

The doctor’s phone is often ringing and buzzing with messages. An OB-GYN who specializes in abortion and contraception at UI Health, near the Rush hospital in Chicago, Fleisher is frequently asked to see how quickly he can squeeze in another patient from another state.

Fleisher believes the health system is treating three times more patients from other states for abortion care.

Fleisher knows that some women won’t make it through birth and post birth. It’s the stress of someone making it to see me that causes me more stress.

Source: Abortion bans are fueling a rise in high-risk patients heading to Illinois hospitals

Abortion Bans Are Fueling a Rise in High-Risk Patients Heading to Illinois Hospitals: An Analysis of Daniel’s Contribution to Chicago Children’s Hospital

The Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF), pledged to cover just over $440,000 in hospital bills for 224 patients in the year following Dobbs, according to Meghan Daniel, CAF’s director of services. Those bills were primarily for out-of-state patients. By comparison, in the year that preceded Dobbs, CAF helped cover just over $11,000 for 27 patients.

“We’re seeing more cases right now (of) people who are later in gestation,” Fowler said. Teenagers who are later in their pregnancies are showing up at hospitals because it’s their last resort. They’ve been referred all over.”

Non-profit hospitals could help. Financial assistance policies are available for people who are uninsured or can’t afford medical bills, in order to get tax breaks. But the policy at UI Health in Chicago, for example, only covers Illinois residents. If you don’t have insurance, the hospital can offer you discounts if your insurance won’t pay.

Source: Abortion bans are fueling a rise in high-risk patients heading to Illinois hospitals

A Mother’s Day in Missouri: A Changing Heartbeat, Changing Physicality, and Making Sense of a Children’s Home

A mother in Missouri has a room dedicated to her son. She brought home a recording of his heartbeat and keeps his remains in a heart-shaped casket. She talks to her son, tells him how much she loves him.

She’s working on healing both emotionally and physically. And while she’s thankful that she was able to travel to Illinois for care, the experience made her angry with her home state.