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<\/p>\nBy Rebecca Guerrero<\/p>\n
In the past year, while trying to have a baby, I\u2019ve suffered two miscarriages. Each time, a feeling of dread as the doctor searched in silence for a missing heartbeat. Each time, mechanical nodding through technical information which went mostly unheard as I attempted not to cry in front of medical staff. Each time, a slew of decisions to be made in a vulnerable situation.<\/p>\n
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But there was a significant difference between my two miscarriages. During the first loss, my medical providers were in El Paso, and during the second, they were in Ju\u00e1rez. In the midst of grief during my second loss, I remember thinking to myself \u201cat least this time I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to this, I could not have imagined placing more trust in the healthcare system in Mexico than the United States. But that was before Texas became a draconian landscape for reproductive rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Texas has been enacting restrictive abortion measures since the early 2000s<\/a>, but recent laws endanger the lives of all pregnant people \u2013 not only those seeking elective abortion.<\/p>\n After the 2022 overturn of Roe Vs. Wade, Texas\u2019 trigger ban criminalized nearly all abortions from conception and imposed severe penalties on doctors who perform them. Senate Bill 8, the \u201cHeartbeat Act,\u201d empowered private citizens to file lawsuits against anyone who \u201caids and abets\u201d an abortion, creating a chilling effect<\/a> for doctors who provide miscarriage care.<\/p>\n I had a \u201csilent\u201d miscarriage \u2013 where the body fails to recognize the loss and doesn\u2019t expel tissue \u2013 commonly treated with a dilation and curettage procedure to remove the products of conception. During my first miscarriage, this procedure was delayed, not because of Texas\u2019s abortion laws (in my case it was allowable because the heartbeat had ceased) but because the holidays got in the way. Neither my fertility doctor nor my OBGYN would schedule during office closures; it was not considered urgent.\u00a0<\/p>\n I carried a deceased pregnancy for nearly two weeks \u2013 only moderately risky from a medical standpoint but psychologically and physically challenging, nonetheless. I bled frequently, experienced pain and consistently debated visits to the emergency room.<\/p>\n When the procedure was finally completed, my doctor told me the removed tissue had become necrotic \u2013 the perfect condition for bacteria to grow and sepsis to develop if left untreated.<\/p>\n I ultimately got the procedure I needed, but this experience helped me understand the kind of fear \u2013 the nightmare scenario \u2013 that many women and couples in Texas have faced, some with tragic ends.<\/p>\n Nevaeh Crain<\/a>, Porsha Ngumezi<\/a>, Josseli Barnica<\/a> and Tierra Walker<\/a> all died when their providers delayed care due to a remaining fetal heartbeat during active miscarriage and high risk situations, or deviated from standard procedures like the D&C which has become entangled in confusion since it is the same procedure used for elective abortions.\u00a0<\/p>\n A recent study by ProPublica<\/a> found that the rate of sepsis rose by more than 50% for women hospitalized due to pregnancy loss in the second trimester after Texas\u2019 abortion ban. This daunting information is enough to give many women of childbearing age in Texas pause in their decisions to start families. Friends I\u2019ve spoken with share versions of the same worry: \u201cI think I\u2019d like to have kids, but I don\u2019t want to get pregnant here, it\u2019s too risky.\u201d<\/p>\n While Texas has some of the harshest restrictions in the nation, El Paso \u2013 as it often does \u2013 feels somewhat removed from the rest of the state in terms of practice. El Pasoans can still access abortions and reproductive care by traveling out of the state to New Mexico or across the border to Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez.\u00a0<\/p>\n I know several people who choose to see OBGYNs in Las Cruces for the assurance that their doctors will have the freedom to prioritize their health if a need should arise.\u00a0<\/p>\n I began fertility treatment in Ju\u00e1rez primarily because the cost of IVF is greatly reduced across the border, but the desire to be away from Texas\u2019s policies was also a factor. My second miscarriage was treated there the same day of diagnosis, a streamlined process that left me feeling as though my immediate health was a priority, something I didn\u2019t experience when miscarrying in Texas.<\/p>\n I feel lucky to have the option to seek care outside of Texas, but I worry that my ability to do so could disappear under continued conservative state leadership.<\/p>\n Travel bans<\/a> and \u201cabortion trafficking\u201d laws have been proposed and implemented in restrictive states, including in several Texas counties. El Paso does not have any such laws yet, so we have not felt the full effect that places like Lubbock and Cochran counties have, but we would be foolish to assume it couldn\u2019t happen here.<\/p>\n The 2026 November midterms are around the corner. The state has decided to delay the release<\/a> of the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee\u2019s biannual report until December, though it was originally scheduled to be released Sept. 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is a deliberate political move; it means voters can\u2019t use the information in the report to inform their choices. It also seems to suggest that state leadership anticipates high enough numbers in the report to impact voter decisions.<\/p>\n