Doctors in the state of Texas have been delaying emergency care for women who are experiencing miscarriages and need an emergency abortion as a result. And since they're delaying care, some of these women are tragically dying. [00:00:15] That's one of the recent stories that was published in ProPublica. They specifically profiled a woman by the name of Jocelyn Barnechea, who is tragically one of the women in Texas who was experiencing a miscarriage, needed an emergency abortion. [00:00:32] But the doctors were so afraid that they would get prosecuted for performing the abortion that they delayed, delayed, delayed before it was too late. So this tragic story began on September 3rd of 2021. [00:00:48] Jocelyn Barnechea was 17 weeks pregnant with a pregnancy that she wanted a child that she was looking forward to delivering and having. And in the process of miscarrying. She was rushed to the hospital. Now the fetus was on the verge of coming out, its head pressed [00:01:06] against her dilated cervix. Doctors noted in hospital records at that point, doctors should have offered to speed up the delivery or empty her uterus to stave off a deadly infection, more than a dozen medical experts told ProPublica. [00:01:25] But according to her husband, when he left work and rushed to the hospital, he arrived to the hospital. He claims that she told him, quote, they had to wait until there was no heartbeat, he told ProPublica in Spanish. It would be a crime to give her an abortion. [00:01:44] Now let's pause and just revisit what Texas's anti-abortion laws are. They have a fetal heartbeat or fetal heartbeat law, which indicates that as soon as there is detection of a heartbeat, which is around six weeks, [00:01:59] and it's not even a fully formed heart. And it's not a heartbeat, it's electrical activity. But as soon as you hear something that might be a heart, then that's it. No abortion, no abortions are allowed unless the pregnancy is threatening the life of the mother. [00:02:15] So there are some exceptions. But the problem is, the exceptions don't really work out the way that these more moderate right wingers think they're going to work out when they carve out these exceptions for abortion bans. [00:02:31] And so what ends up happening is when you threaten the doctors with severe penalties and prosecution, well, they're going to avoid performing the abortion because they're going to be more concerned about avoiding prosecution. [00:02:46] And they fear the possibility of losing everything they worked for, including their medical licenses. And so that's what that's exactly what happened here for 40 hours, the anguished 28 year old mother prayed for doctors to help her get home to her daughter. [00:03:04] All the while, her uterus remained exposed to bacteria. I know there's a lot of men watching. We have a male dominant audience, and I know that these are difficult things to hear about, but this is what women go through. [00:03:20] Pregnancy is not an easy process for women. It goes beyond just being inconvenient or uncomfortable. Oftentimes, there can be complications. Oftentimes, if those complications aren't dealt with appropriately, a woman can die from an infection from sepsis. [00:03:37] And that's what happened here. Three days after she delivered the, you know, unviable fetus, Barnett died of an infection. She had sepsis. And the official cause of death on the medical records indicate [00:03:54] that she died of sepsis involving products of conception because they didn't give her the abortion she needed to prevent the infection from taking place. Now look again. Proponents of Texas's, you know, anti-abortion laws argue that there are these exceptions, but in practice, these exceptions don't really work. [00:04:14] Veronica's death was preventable, according to more than a dozen medical experts who reviewed a summary of her hospital and autopsy records at Propublica's request. They called her case horrific, astounding and egregious. [00:04:29] What was what was the point of these anti-abortion laws? Again, it was to save lives, right? That was the argument. Here's the only statement ProPublica was able to get from the hospital that denied Monica the life saving emergency abortion that she needed. HCA healthcare said, our responsibility is [00:04:49] to be in compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations, and said that physicians exercise their independent judgment. But, you know, this chain of hospitals refuses to disclose what their policy are. [00:05:04] Policies are in regard to these emergency abortions for miscarriages. Some HCA shareholders have also asked why the company hasn't, like, prepared a report on the risks to the company related to the abortion bans [00:05:20] in the state of Texas or in other states they might operate in that have banned abortion. They argue that, hey, you know what? This could actually help the patients understand what services they can expect from the doctors. If there are certain circumstances, like a miscarriage that would require [00:05:37] an emergency abortion, but get a load of this. Hca's board of directors opposed the proposal, partly because it would create an unnecessary expense and burdens with limited benefits to our our stockholders. [00:05:54] The proposal was supported by 8% of shareholders who voted. Got to look out for the shareholders, man. Gotta look out for those investors. Money before people, investors before people. I mean, you know how the story goes. [00:06:11] Is this supposed to be the moral path forward? I'm serious. Like I really do want conservatives to answer that question. Is this really the moral way of handling women's reproductive health? And if you are a conservative watching, I'm I'm genuinely curious, [00:06:28] what is your stereotype of women and why they would want to keep abortion legal? You know, the Roe standard ensured that abortion was legal up to viability. Viability, meaning, you know, a fetus that could actually survive outside the womb. [00:06:45] So I just want to understand when the fetus isn't even viable. What's more important? Protecting the woman's life? Or is the woman's life not that important at all? We just need to have these ridiculous bands to save what I mean? [00:07:03] I mean, seriously, to save the fetuses that a lot of women are going to go out of their way to abort in illegal ways if they have to. I mean, that's what happened in the past when abortion was illegal nationwide. [00:07:18] That's what's been happening now. I just, you know, a lot of people think that the abortion pill is the magic solution to all of this, and I'm happy that the abortion pill is available. But the abortion pill has complications as well, because if you take the abortion [00:07:34] pill, you're in the comfort of your own home and you abort a fetus that way. Well, sometimes complications arise from that as well. And a woman might need to seek medical attention to avoid an infection as a result of that as well. But if you live in a state where you're worried about prosecution for [00:07:52] getting an abortion or aborting a fetus. Are you going to seek that medical attention or are you going to be afraid to do so? I just think that these laws are not well thought out, and they seem to have a complete misunderstanding as to why abortion and reproductive health [00:08:11] is considered health care. I think that there are a lot of stereotypes out there about women just willy nilly, having all sorts of unprotected sex with all sorts of men, and then using abortion as a form of birth control. [00:08:26] Many of the medical professionals ProPublica spoke to noted that Barnicle's story was actually similar to a story that went viral some years ago. So a 31 year old woman who died of septic shock back in 2012 after providers in Ireland refused to empty her uterus while she was miscarrying at 17 weeks [00:08:47] when she begged for care, a midwife told her, quote, this is a Catholic country, end quote. The resulting investigation and public outcry galvanized the country to change its strict ban on abortion. But that's not what's happening here in the United States, unfortunately. [00:09:04] The nation's largest for profit hospital chain has said it delivers more babies than any other health care provider in America, and 70% of its hospitals are in states where abortion is restricted. And in the U.S., there are again, no efforts to reform some [00:09:22] of these terrible laws and bans that have been implemented in states like Texas. Now, luckily, in the state of Florida, voters will be able to vote on a ballot measure that will allow them to, protect reproductive rights [00:09:38] as part of their state constitution. I'm really crossing my fingers for the state of Florida. I hope they make the right decision. And in the past, they have voted very liberally on certain ballot initiatives, including raising the state's minimum wage. So I have faith in the voters of Florida. Please do the right thing. [00:09:54] Please protect women, protect reproductive rights because it is health care. And Texas isn't the only state that's grappling with injustice related to these abortion bans. Last month, ProPublica told the stories of two Georgia women, Amber Thurman and Kandi Miller, [00:10:11] whose deaths were deemed preventable by the state's Maternal Mortality or Mortality Review Committee after they were unable to access legal abortions and timely medical care amid an abortion ban. It's a depressing story, to say the least. [00:10:27] I hate where we are as a country, but the only way to fight back is electorally. Hey, thanks for watching the video. We really appreciate it, guys, and we appreciate it if you become members, because that allows us to be independent, honest, progressive, all the things that you don't get from corporate media [00:10:43] and all of that is because of you guys. Hit the join button below and become one of us. Become a young Turk.