White Men Take Women's Rights and Doctors Need to Fight Back.

My Heart Sank: A Texas Doctor Reflects on Post-Dobbs Reality

It's been two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and the devastation of that decision still haunts me. As a doctor in Texas, I've witnessed firsthand the cruel and dangerous impact of this ruling on my patients.

Patients have suffered devastating health complications as a result of not receiving timely care.

The so-called "pro-life" movement has shown its true colors: they are willing to sacrifice the health and well-being of those with uteruses at the altar of their ideological crusade. In Texas, where abortion rights have been under fire for decades, the situation is dire. We went from providing essential healthcare to turning away patients in desperate need.

I’ve seen my colleagues, bound by new and confusing abortion restrictions, forced to send patients home to get sicker before being able to provide treatment.

The anti-abortion zealots may pat themselves on the back, but they are blind to the destruction they leave in their wake. The very notion of "medical exceptions" in abortion bans like Texas' S.B. 8 is a farce. These exceptions do nothing but undermine medical judgment and push patients further away from receiving the care they need.

These “exceptions” only undermine medical judgment, create confusion for patients, and delay access to care.

Let's call this what it is: state-sanctioned harm. We, as medical professionals, are forced to stand idly by as our patients suffer. Our hands are tied by a web of confusing and restrictive laws, crafted by lawmakers with no regard for the lives they ruin.

It’s our job to act swiftly and provide appropriate, timely, and morally responsible care to patients in need. The Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling has made this increasingly hard to do, and patients' lives have been put at risk.

And let's be clear, the overturning of Roe was just the beginning. The attacks on reproductive freedom have only intensified. The Supreme Court's recent consideration of cases like FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Idaho and Moyle, et al. v. United States is further proof of the extremist agenda to strip away our rights.

In *FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine», a cobbled-together anti-abortion group, went after access to medication abortion, despite studies showing its safety and effectiveness, and despite the support of more than 7 in 10 Americans.

In Idaho and Moyle, et al. v. United States, anti-abortion extremists are asking the Court to gut the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which protects the right to emergency medical care, including abortion.

Make no mistake, this is a matter of life and death. We cannot stay silent as our patients are pushed to the brink. We must amplify the stories of those affected by these draconian bans and restrictions. The anti-abortion extremists won't stop, and neither can we. Our freedoms and our lives depend on it.

Dr. Beasley is an obstetrician-gynecologist on the front lines of the fight for reproductive rights in Texas. The views expressed here are her own.