Women suing the state of Texas over the state’s abortion ban testified in court on Wednesday, July 19. The women said they were told they could not get abortions despite possible dangers over complications with their pregnancies.
Samantha Casiano carried her baby to term despite the baby having a condition that had no chance of survival. The condition, known as Anencephaly, meant the baby would be born with an underdeveloped brain and an incomplete skull.
“I felt like I was abandoned,” Casiano said Wednesday. “I had this funeral home paper, and this is just supposed to be a scan day; I’m just supposed to know what I’m going to have. And it just escalated to me finding out that my daughter was going to die inside or outside of my womb.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office is defending the ban in the lawsuit. The office argued the women lack standing to sue. On Wednesday, lawyers for the state asked the women if Paxton had personally told them they could not have an abortion.
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The purpose of the lawsuit is not to get the law overturned. Rather, the women are seeking clarity on when exceptions are allowed under the Texas abortion ban. It’s not clear when the judge will rule on the case.
It’s now been nearly two years since the Texas abortion ban took effect, and over a year since Roe v. Wade was overturned. In that time, Texas has seen a rise in infant mortality.
About 2,200 infants died in the state in 2022. That’s up 11.5% from the previous year. Infant deaths caused by severe genetic and birth defects rose by 21.6%.
This reverses a nearly decadelong decline. Infant deaths fell 15% between 2014 and 2021.
