When a federal court injunction temporarily halted Texas’ controversial six-week abortion ban on the night of Oct. 6, one physician who provides abortions at an independent clinic in the state was already in bed. A text message arrived with the news and the physician’s heart started racing.
“This is what we’ve been planning for. This is great news,” the doctor remembers thinking. “It was always my intention that if we got the injunction, I would resume care as soon as possible.”
But that late-night decision—to resume providing abortions to patients who could not otherwise legally receive one—was extremely risky.
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The Texas law, which is known as SB 8 and bans nearly all abortions after roughly six weeks, contains an unusual provision: if doctors perform abortions based on a court decision that is later reversed, they can be retroactively sued for up to four years. And if they’re found guilty, they could be held personally legally liable. Malpractice insurance does not typically cover breaking the law.
After weighing this considerable risk, the majority of the roughly two dozen abortion clinics in Texas, including those run by Planned Parenthood, decided they would not resume providing abortions past six weeks during the injunction. But a handful of physicians at roughly six clinics across the state, including that doctor reading text messages in bed, made a different calculation: the extraordinary personal risk was worth it to do what they believed was right.
“I was prepared to take the chance,” says another Texas doctor who resumed providing abortions just hours after the injunction went into effect. “I was not afraid of these guys trying to bully us. A time comes when you have to stand up and fight for what’s right.”
Less than 48-hours later, the legal window again slammed shut. On the evening of Oct. 8, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an administrative stay of the lower court’s injunction. With SB 8 now back in…
Source : time
