The Big Story highlights some of our newsroom’s most important stories. Thank you for reading.
| Texas’ abortion ban has created a standard of fear, jeopardizing care for pregnant TexansPorsha Ngumezi sat for hours in an emergency room, passing grapefruit-sized blood clots as she waited to be treated for a first-trimester miscarriage. Hollie Cunningham’s baby was diagnosed with anencephaly – a rare, fatal birth defect where the skull and brain fail to fully form. And Dr. Jack Hale passed up an opportunity for a dream job in Austin, Texas for fear that his wife – pregnant with their second child – could develop complications and be unable to receive care. It’s been nearly four years since Texas implemented one of the country’s most strict and punitive abortion bans — ushering in the most seismic change to women’s health care in a half-century. The Dallas Morning News set out to explore how overlapping abortion laws in Texas have altered the landscape of obstetric health care across the state. |
| The big picture • The standard of medical care available to pregnant patients — especially those with urgent complications and medically complex pregnancies — has diminished. • Texas’ abortion bans haven’t just affected women seeking abortions,but also those who want to have children. • Women who experienced life-threatening complications have died after facing delays in care and being unable to receive the treatments they needed. • Fear has gripped doctors and patients alike, permeating exam rooms and hospital wards. • Texas’ abortion bans have driven away medical professionals and trainees. |
| Through more than 100 interviews with physicians, researchers, healthcare experts, patients, and families, reporters documented deviations from what was in the best interest of the patient and other unintended consequences. “Standard of Fear,” a new investigative series, reveals how the abortion laws have been sweeping in their collateral damage, leaving patients, families, and medical providers caught in the middle. |
