女性独自驱车数百英里去堕胎，诊所里挤满了州外的病人，服务提供者面临着来自“胆大妄为的义务警员活动”的“无情骚扰”，这些都是自最严格的堕胎法颁布以来，联邦政府在新的法庭文件中详述的一些影响在德克萨斯州生效本月早些时候。
将近一周后宣布诉讼针对州政府，美国司法部申请立即禁令星期二停止执法，被称为SB8，它禁止医生在检测到所谓的胎儿心跳(技术上是胚胎细胞内电活动的颤动)时提供堕胎。这可以在怀孕六周的超声波检查中看到，很多女性甚至还不知道自己怀孕了。
在最新的文件中，DOJ记录了史无前例的法律根据妇女健康诊所领导人、医生和堕胎权利倡导者支持临时禁止令或初步禁令动议的声明。
“强制执行前诉讼中警告的破坏性影响立即成为德克萨斯州患者和提供者的现实，”紧急动议指出。“第8条严重且不可挽回地损害了妇女在全州范围内行使宪法赋予的堕胎权的能力。”
根据该动议，根据法律，85%到95%之前提供的堕胎将停止。根据法院文件，得克萨斯州的一家计划生育附属机构从SB8生效前一周提供的205例堕胎增加到了第二周的52例。
其结果是，“在COVID激增的情况下，在令人痛苦的情况下，妇女被迫跋涉数百英里，有时甚至数千英里去堕胎，”该动议指出。
《DOJ时报》讲述了一名未成年患者的经历，据称他被一名家庭成员强奸，并从得克萨斯州的加尔维斯顿前往俄克拉荷马州进行堕胎。根据得克萨斯州的法律，在医疗紧急情况下堕胎是一个例外，但乱伦或强奸的情况除外。
“性侵犯的其他幸存者不得不承担额外的负担，比如请假和安排育儿，因为德克萨斯州不允许堕胎，”该动议指出。
根据法庭文件，一名患者独自驾车往返1000英里，“因为她没有带薪休假，也负担不起”错过她的轮班。另一个人“把她的孩子塞进她的车里，连夜开车15个多小时，在堪萨斯州进行药物流产，而不是努力凑齐机票和儿童护理所需的钱，或者继续被搁置，”倡导组织“德克萨斯选择基金”的联合执行董事安娜·鲁帕尼在声明中说。
法院文件称，一名患者独自一人往返俄克拉荷马州需要六个小时，因为她担心会有人帮助她。根据SB8，公民个人可以起诉他们“合理相信”的人，前提是非法堕胎或在该州帮助某人堕胎，例如开车送他们去约会。
据《DOJ》报道，平均而言，患者们要走650英里才能到达西南部的堕胎诊所。该动议称，计划前往另一个州的等待和后勤障碍“使得一些妇女不再有资格进行药物流产，而是接受更具侵入性的程序性流产”。
该动议认为，SB8不仅影响德州人，而且对“其他州的妇女权利产生了极端影响”。附近各州的诊所，包括俄克拉荷马州、堪萨斯州、新墨西哥州和科罗拉多州，已经被一场流感“淹没”德克萨斯居民的涌入寻求堕胎，特别是塔尔萨和俄克拉荷马城的诊所，根据法院文件，与今年前六个月相比，德州患者“总体惊人地增加了646%”。
根据法院文件，俄克拉荷马州的计划生育健康中心因德州患者数量而面临“几周”的排班积压，而一些诊所因当前的需求和人员挑战而根本无法容纳大量州外患者，“鉴于目前来自S.B. 8的威胁叠加在大流行中的招聘挑战之上”。
DOJ认为，堕胎诊所的工作人员也受到了影响，因为SB8“助长了针对堕胎服务提供者和工作人员的私刑活动”，包括对他们大喊大叫、录音和试图跟踪他们回家。"
工作人员也担心潜在诉讼的威胁。根据法院文件，在德克萨斯州的三个堕胎设施中有17名医生的全妇女健康组织报告说，在该法律颁布后，只有一名医生“无条件同意工作”。
“对我们大多数医生来说，风险太大，甚至不能来工作，”全女性健康总裁兼首席执行官艾米·哈格斯特罗姆·米勒在她的声明中说。
支持立即禁令的人说，根据法律，一些诊所可能永远关闭。
哈格斯特罗姆·米勒说:“如果法律在很长一段时间内仍然有效，我们只能用一小部分员工为一小部分患者提供服务，我们将不得不关闭大门，停止向我们所服务的社区提供任何医疗保健服务。“我相信，如果接下来几周没有法院下令的救济，S.B. 8将关闭德克萨斯州大部分(如果不是全部)剩余的堕胎诊所。”
DOJ documents impacts of Texas abortion ban in new court filings
Women driving hundreds of miles alone for an abortion, clinics overwhelmed with out-of-state patients, providers facing "relentless harassment" from "emboldened vigilante activities," those are some of the impacts detailed by the federal government in new court documents since the most restrictive abortion lawwent into effect in Texasearlier this month.
Nearly a week afterannouncing a lawsuitagainst the state, the U.S. Department of Justicefiled for an immediate injunctionTuesday to halt theenforcement of the law, known as SB8, which bars physicians from providing abortions once they detect a so-called fetal heartbeat -- technically the flutter of electrical activity within the cells in an embryo. That can be seen on an ultrasound as early as six weeks into a pregnancy -- before many women even know they're pregnant.
In their latest filing, the DOJ documented the impact of theunprecedented lawbased on declarations from the leaders of women's health clinics, doctors and abortion rights advocates in support of the motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction.
"The devastating effects warned of in the pre-enforcement litigation immediately became a reality for patients and providers in Texas," the emergency motion states. "S.B. 8 has gravely and irreparably impaired women's ability to exercise their constitutional right to an abortion across the State."
Under the law, between 85% and 95% of all abortions previously provided will stop, according to the motion. One Planned Parenthood affiliate in Texas went from providing 205 abortions the week before SB8 went into effect, to 52 the week after, according to the court documents.
As a result, "Women are being forced to travel hundreds -- and sometimes thousands -- of miles to obtain an abortion under harrowing circumstances in the middle of a COVID surge," the motion states.
The DOJ recounted the experience of one patient, a minor, who was allegedly raped by a family member and traveled eight hours, from Galveston, Texas, to Oklahoma, for an abortion. There is an exception under the Texas law for abortions in cases of medical emergencies, but not for cases of incest or rape.
"[Other] survivors of sexual assault have to bear the additional burden of taking time off work and arranging childcare because abortions are not available in Texas," the motion states.
According to the court documents, one patient drove a 1,000-mile roundtrip alone "because she didn't have paid time off work and couldn't afford" to miss her shift. Another "piled her children into her car and drove over 15 hours overnight to obtain a medication abortion in Kansas rather than struggle to patch together the money needed for airfare and child care or remain in limbo," Anna Rupani, co-executive director of the advocacy group Fund Texas Choice, said in her declaration.
One patient traveled six hours each way to Oklahoma alone because she was worried she would make someone liable for helping her, the court documents state. Under SB8, private citizens can sue a person they "reasonably believed" provided an illegal abortion or assisted someone in getting it in the state, such as by driving them to an appointment.
On average, patients are traveling 650 miles each way to get to abortion clinics in the Southwest, according to the DOJ. The waits and logistical hurdles in planning travel to another state "have made it such that some women are no longer eligible for a medication abortion and instead are subjected to more invasive procedural abortions," the motion states.
SB8 not only affects Texans, but has had an "extreme impact on the rights of women in other states," the motion argues. Clinics in nearby states, including Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico and Colorado, have been "overwhelmed" by aninflux of Texas residentsseeking abortions, with clinics in Tulsa and Oklahoma City in particular seeing an "overall staggering 646% increase" in Texan patients compared to the first six months of the year, according to the court documents.
Planned Parenthood health centers in Oklahoma are seeing scheduling backlogs of "several weeks" due to the number of Texan patients, while some clinics are simply unable to accommodate large numbers of out-of-state patients due to current demands and staffing challenges "given the current threats from S.B. 8 layered atop the challenges of hiring in a pandemic," according to the court documents.
Abortion clinic staff have also been impacted, the DOJ argues, as SB8 has "emboldened vigilante activities" against abortion providers and staff, including yelling at, recording and trying to follow them home."
Staff are also concerned about the threat of potential lawsuits. Whole Woman's Health, which has 17 doctors on staff across its three abortion facilities in Texas, reported that only one doctor "unconditionally agreed to work" after the law was enacted, according to the court documents.
"For most of our physicians, the risk was too great to even come to work," Amy Hagstrom Miller, president and CEO of Whole Woman's Health, said in her declaration.
Some clinics risk closure for good under the law, supporters of an immediate injunction said.
"If the law remains in effect for an extended period of time, and we are only able to serve a fraction of our patients with a fraction of our staff, we will have to shutter our doors and stop providing any healthcare to the communities we serve," Hagstrom Miller said. "I believe that, without court-ordered relief in the next couple of weeks, S.B. 8 will shutter most if not all of the remaining abortion clinics in Texas."
