For one Texas doctor, abortion bans are personal and professional – By Selena Simmons-Duffin (NPR) / Aug 21, 2023
On a recent Friday night, as her husband made dinner at the family’s home in Dallas and her toddlers ran around underfoot, Dr. Austin Dennard saw an email come in on her phone.
The judge who heard her testify last month in an Austin courtroom about Texas’s abortion laws had reached a decision. Dennard is among 13 women who sued the state arguing that the current abortion bans are unclear when it comes to pregnancy complications. She is also an OB-GYN, and she’s nearing the end of a healthy pregnancy – she was visibly pregnant while on the stand.
The email that came in that night during dinner prep had big news. Judge Jessica Mangrum had ruled decisively in favor of Dennard and the other plaintiffs represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights. Mangrum’s decision temporarily blocked the Texas abortion bans in cases of serious pregnancy complications.
“I didn’t anticipate the amount of emotion that was just going to pour out of me when I read it,” she says. “I just scrolled through it and just cried.”
CONTINUE > https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/21/1194482842/texas-pregnant-doctor-abortion-bans
