Texas Women Suffer Under Republicans

 Porsha Ngumezi died after not getting a D&C in the emergency department at Houston Methodist Sugar Land. Lizzie Presser and Kavitha Surana, reporting for ProPublica the non-profit investigative newsroom found that thirty-five-year-old Porsha Ngumezi’s case raises questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to avoid standard care even in straightforward miscarriages.

D&C refers to dilation and curettage, a common procedure for early pregnancy miscarriages and abortions. Mrs. Ngumezi was bleeding at the hospital for 6 hours passing blood clots the nurses reported were as big as grapefruits and had received two transfusions. In a case like Ngumezi's miscarriage the doctor would typically perform a D&C which is the removal of the remaining tissue from her uterus and the bleeding would end.

The obstetrician on duty, Dr. Andrew Ryan Davis, said it was the hospital’s “routine” to give a drug called misoprostol to help the body pass the tissue. Trusting the doctor Mrs. Nguzemi took the pills, but the bleeding continued. The doctor had been informed that she had a blood-clotting disorder which increased the danger of her going into hemorrhagic shock. Three hours later Porsha Ngumezi’s heart stopped. The medical examiner found the cause of death to be hemorrhage.

Porsha Ngumezi’s death was preventable "according to more than a dozen doctors who reviewed a detailed summary of her case for ProPublica."

Nguzemi's death and the deaths of other Texas women since 2022 when the Texas abortion ban went into effect suggest the law is pressuring doctors to diverge from the standard of care and choose less-effective options that could expose their patients to more risks. Other doctors and patients have described similar decisions they’ve witnessed across the state.

Porsha Ngumezi, a mother of two young boys, was sacrificed to Texas Republicans on the anti-abortion altar they erected. The draconian law is so broad that medical procedure that is used for both abortions and miscarriages is effectively outlawed in Texas regardless of whether or not the fetus is already dead. The legislature has already had an opportunity in 2023 to fix the law and couldn't be bothered to protect the lives of Texas women. How many women have to die before Texans revolt and vote out Republicans?

I am the husband of a woman who went through three miscarriages. I am the father of a wonderful daughter who is of age to have children. I fear for her in this state that she might suffer a miscarriage like her mother but be unable to get the care she needs like her mother did 30 years ago. I'd do anything to get her out of state or out of the country to save her life but in a situation like Mrs. Ngumezi suffered we likely wouldn't be able to get her somewhere she could receive the necessary treatment in time. I've been angry about this legislation and the impact it has on women since before the governor signed it into law and I just keep getting angrier as more women suffer and die while Republicans do nothing. When will the fanatics be held accountable? How Texas voters keep re-electing people who have no empathy toward the suffering of others is beyond my comprehension.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - December 11, 2024