Blessings to Alan Braid

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BoSoxGal
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Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by BoSoxGal »

Opinion: Why I violated Texas’s extreme abortion ban

Alan Braid is a physician who provides abortion care in San Antonio.

0:00/6:45
Listen to the author of this piece, Alan Braid, read it aloud. Produced by Julie Depenbrock.

Newly graduated from the University of Texas medical school, I began my obstetrics and gynecology residency at a San Antonio hospital on July 1, 1972.

At the time, abortion was effectively illegal in Texas — unless a psychiatrist certified a woman was suicidal. If the woman had money, we’d refer her to clinics in Colorado, California or New York. The rest were on their own. Some traveled across the border to Mexico.

At the hospital that year, I saw three teenagers die from illegal abortions. One I will never forget. When she came into the ER, her vaginal cavity was packed with rags. She died a few days later from massive organ failure, caused by a septic infection.

In medical school in Texas, we’d been taught that abortion was an integral part of women’s health care. When the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Roe v. Wade in 1973, recognizing abortion as a constitutional right, it enabled me to do the job I was trained to do.

For the next 45 years — not including the two years I was away in the Air Force — I was a practicing OB/GYN in Texas, conducting Pap smears, pelvic exams and pregnancy check-ups; delivering more than 10,000 babies; and providing abortion care at clinics I opened in Houston and San Antonio, and another in Oklahoma.

Then, this month, everything changed. A new Texas law, known as S.B. 8, virtually banned any abortion beyond about the sixth week of pregnancy. It shut down about 80 percent of the abortion services we provide. Anyone who suspects I have violated the new law can sue me for at least $10,000. They could also sue anybody who helps a person obtain an abortion past the new limit, including, apparently, the driver who brings a patient to my clinic.

For me, it is 1972 all over again.

And that is why, on the morning of Sept. 6, I provided an abortion to a woman who, though still in her first trimester, was beyond the state’s new limit. I acted because I had a duty of care to this patient, as I do for all patients, and because she has a fundamental right to receive this care.

I fully understood that there could be legal consequences — but I wanted to make sure that Texas didn’t get away with its bid to prevent this blatantly unconstitutional law from being tested.

Though we never ask why someone has come to our clinic, they often tell us. They’re finishing school or they already have three children, they’re in an abusive relationship, or it’s just not time. A majority are mothers. Most are between 18 and 30. Many are struggling financially — more than half qualify for some form of financial aid from us.

Several times a month, a woman confides that she is having the abortion because she has been raped. Sometimes, she reports it to the police; more often, she doesn’t. Texas’s new law makes no exceptions for rape or incest.

Even before S.B. 8, Texas had some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. That includes a 24-hour waiting period, meaning a woman has to make at least two visits to our clinic. Ultrasound imaging is mandatory. Parental consent is required for minors, unless they obtain court approval.

And yet, despite the restrictions, we were always able to continue providing compassionate care up to the legal limit of 22 weeks. It meant hiring more staff, everything took longer, but we managed.

Until Sept. 1.

Since then, most of our patients have been too far along in their pregnancies to qualify for abortion care. I tell them that we can offer services only if we cannot see the presence of cardiac activity on an ultrasound, which usually occurs at about six weeks, before most people know they are pregnant. The tension is unbearable as they lie there, waiting to hear their fate.

If we detect cardiac activity, we have to refer them out of state. One of the women I talked with since the law took effect is 42. She has four kids, three under 12. I advised her that she could go to Oklahoma. That’s a nine-hour drive one way. I explained we could help with the funding. She told me she couldn’t go even if we flew her in a private jet. “Who’s going to take care of my kids?” she asked me. “What about my job? I can’t miss work.”

I understand that by providing an abortion beyond the new legal limit, I am taking a personal risk, but it’s something I believe in strongly. Represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, my clinics are among the plaintiffs in an ongoing federal lawsuit to stop S.B. 8.

I have daughters, granddaughters and nieces. I believe abortion is an essential part of health care. I have spent the past 50 years treating and helping patients. I can’t just sit back and watch us return to 1972.
Last edited by BoSoxGal on Sun Sep 19, 2021 10:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Agreed. If lickspittle milquetoast shitheads like Jim 'Gym' Jordan and Russ Limbaugh can get the Presidential Medal of Freedom, what do we give Alan Braid for actually doing a brave thing?

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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

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I forgot to post the link for anyone who wanted to listen to the doctor’s reading of his essay, or to explore the 5k comments to the piece which was published on WashPo Saturday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... lan-braid/
Last edited by BoSoxGal on Mon Sep 20, 2021 11:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by BoSoxGal »

It has begun.

From the NYT:
HOUSTON — A man in Arkansas and another in Illinois on Monday filed what appeared to be the first legal actions under a strict new abortion law in Texas that is enforced by ordinary citizens, regardless of where they live.

The Arkansas man, Oscar Stilley, who was described in the complaint as a “disbarred and disgraced” lawyer, said in an interview that he had filed the lawsuit against a Texas doctor, who publicly wrote about performing an abortion, to test the provisions of the law. The Supreme Court declined to stop the law, which has effectively ended most abortions in the state since going into effect this month.

The law bars enforcement by state officials, a novel maneuver aimed at circumventing judicial review, and instead relies on citizens to file legal claims against abortion providers or anyone suspected of “aiding or abetting” an abortion. Successful suits can bring the plaintiffs awards of at least $10,000.

Proponents of the law and anti-abortion activists had been satisfied that the threat of legal action appeared to stop most abortions in Texas. Some feared that the openness of the law — allowing anyone to file suit — could result in a first test case that was unfavorable to their cause.

Mr. Stilley said he was not trying to halt abortions by Dr. Alan Braid, a San Antonio physician who wrote in The Washington Post on Saturday that he had violated the Texas law — which prohibits abortions after cardiac activity is detected, or roughly six weeks into pregnancy.

“I’m not pro-life,” Mr. Stilley, 58, said in an interview. “The thing that I’m trying to vindicate here is the law. We pride ourselves on being a nation of laws. What’s the law?”

The Justice Department has sued Texas over the law, known as Senate Bill 8, and argued in an emergency motion last week that the state adopted the measure “to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights.”

“It is settled constitutional law that ‘a state may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability,’” the department said in the lawsuit, referring to the standard set in the 1973 landmark case Roe v. Wade. “But Texas has done just that.”

Dr. Braid was also sued on Monday by an Illinois man, Felipe N. Gomez, who described himself in his complaint as a “pro-choice plaintiff.” Mr. Gomez could not be immediately reached for comment about his lawsuit, which was earlier reported by KSAT news in San Antonio.

Both suits were filed in state court in San Antonio and both men are representing themselves.

“Neither of these lawsuits are valid attempts to save innocent human lives,” said John Seago, legislative director for Texas Right to Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group, which lobbied for the new abortion law. “Both cases are self-serving legal stunts, abusing the cause of action created in the Texas Heartbeat Act for their own purposes.”

He added that he and others at Texas Right to Life “believe Braid published his Op-Ed intending to attract imprudent lawsuits.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights group that represents Dr. Braid, said he had not been formally served and declined to make him available for an interview. In a statement, the group’s senior counsel, Marc Hearron, said the Texas law “says that ‘any person’ can sue over a violation, and we are starting to see that happen, including by out-of-state claimants.”

In his opinion essay for The Post, Dr. Braid said he had decided to violate the Texas law, which makes no exceptions for rape or incest, out of a firm belief in abortion rights. “I have daughters, granddaughters and nieces. I believe abortion is an essential part of health care,” he wrote. “I have spent the past 50 years treating and helping patients. I can’t just sit back and watch us return to 1972.”

Mr. Braid wrote that on the morning of Sept. 6, he had “provided an abortion to a woman who, though still in her first trimester, was beyond the state’s new limit.”

After reading that, Mr. Stilley said he decided to file suit. His complaint includes a description of his own legal troubles, which he said included a federal conviction for tax evasion and conspiracy; he was released to home confinement after a decade in prison.

Mr. Stilley said in the interview that he believed in a woman’s right not to have an unwanted child, and that because his lawsuit was a win-win for him, he rushed to file it.

“I’m going to get an answer either way,” he said. “If this is a free-for-all, and it’s $10,000, I want my $10,000. And yes, I do aim to collect.”

Ruth Graham contributed reporting from Dallas.

— J. David Goodman
Blessings on Dr. Braid.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

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“Neither of these lawsuits are valid attempts to save innocent human lives,” said John Seago, legislative director for Texas Right to Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group, which lobbied for the new abortion law. “Both cases are self-serving legal stunts, abusing the cause of action created in the Texas Heartbeat Act for their own purposes.”

He added that he and others at Texas Right to Life “believe Braid published his Op-Ed intending to attract imprudent lawsuits.”
Hmmm. Does S.B.8 actually require that any lawsuits brought under its provisions must be “valid attempts to save innocent human lives”? Does S.B.8 actually ban either “imprudent lawsuits” or “self-serving legal stunts”? If not...well, what were the authors of the law expecting?



Oh, and if anyone knows where people can contribute to Dr. Braid's (and other possible defendants') legal expenses and/or (if it comes to that) the possible $10,000 judgement—and the appeals, all the way up to the Supreme Court—please post that information in this thread.
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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Scopes, anyone?
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by BoSoxGal »

Econoline wrote:
Tue Sep 21, 2021 2:33 am

Oh, and if anyone knows where people can contribute to Dr. Braid's (and other possible defendants') legal expenses and/or (if it comes to that) the possible $10,000 judgement—and the appeals, all the way up to the Supreme Court—please post that information in this thread.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is representing Dr. Braid - they are a wonderful organization who work to protect abortion rights and access to all reproductive health services nationwide, and globally.

https://reproductiverights.org/

They are also co-counsel on the Mississippi case presently before the SCOTUS that is asking to overturn Roe v. Wade entirely.

They will put your donations to good use.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by Bicycle Bill »

MajGenl.Meade wrote:
Tue Sep 21, 2021 5:28 am
Scopes, anyone?
I think you meant "Snopes".
https://www.snopes.com/
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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

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Bicycle Bill wrote:
Tue Sep 21, 2021 11:58 am
MajGenl.Meade wrote:
Tue Sep 21, 2021 5:28 am
Scopes, anyone?
I think you meant "Snopes".
https://www.snopes.com/
Understandable but no, BB.
Some feared that the openness of the law — allowing anyone to file suit — could result in a first test case that was unfavorable to their cause . . . He added that he and others at Texas Right to Life “believe Braid published his Op-Ed intending to attract imprudent lawsuits.”
Surely Clarence Darrow would give Dr Braid Image
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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by Guinevere »

BoSoxGal wrote:
Tue Sep 21, 2021 11:01 am
Econoline wrote:
Tue Sep 21, 2021 2:33 am

Oh, and if anyone knows where people can contribute to Dr. Braid's (and other possible defendants') legal expenses and/or (if it comes to that) the possible $10,000 judgement—and the appeals, all the way up to the Supreme Court—please post that information in this thread.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is representing Dr. Braid - they are a wonderful organization who work to protect abortion rights and access to all reproductive health services nationwide, and globally.

https://reproductiverights.org/

They are also co-counsel on the Mississippi case presently before the SCOTUS that is asking to overturn Roe v. Wade entirely.

They will put your donations to good use.
Thanks for that update - they are a great org and I just sent them a few $$. The other organizations I really like and support are NARAL, which fights for choice, contraception, paid family leave, and defends pregnancy discrimination cases - truly supporting all aspects of the right to bodily autonomy. https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/

I also have friends who work at and work for Women Have Options Ohio — providing access to abortion, emergency contraception, and contraception to the women of Ohio, where the right has been extremely circumscribed, and accessing it is burdensome and expensive for women. Most of their clients are living at or near poverty and often cannot afford to exercise free choice. https://www.womenhaveoptions.org/
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by Econoline »

Thanks BSG, I also sent a donation to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by rubato »

The Texas law is a strange stew of idiocy. The State does not outlaw abortion or punish it but is allows any crackpot religious nut to prosecute someone for providing abortion. In other words surrendering judgement to any fruitcake with a religious objection.

Stupid. Calif. New York. Oregon &c. should run billboards in Tejas telling women that "you can stay and be treated like cattle or you can move to a civilised place where women are not breeding stock.

yrs,
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I am a chronic supporter of planned parenthood.

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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by Bicycle Bill »

rubato wrote:
Sun Oct 03, 2021 4:47 am
I am a chronic supporter of planned parenthood.
I am also a supporter of planned parenthood.
I never planned to become a parent, so I kept my pecker in my pants where it belonged instead of trying to shove it into every pussy that crossed my path.
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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by Gob »

Bicycle Bill wrote:
Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:23 am
.
I never planned to become a parent, so I kept my pecker in my pants where it belonged instead of trying to shove it into every pussy that crossed my path.
I was quite the opposite, luckily, thanks to free conscription in a civilised country, I got away with it, (as far as I know.)
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Gob wrote:
Sun Oct 03, 2021 7:37 am
I was quite the opposite, luckily, thanks to free conscription in a civilised country, I got away with it, (as far as I know.)
I always suspected they were not volunteers :lol:
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

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pro-life protest.jpg
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Re: Blessings to Alan Braid

Post by Bicycle Bill »

But if they transition to female, demand to be considered as a female (see Caitlyn Jenner), provide genetic material for in vitro fertilization with the resulting embryo being brought to term by means of a surrogate, and then, after receiving massive amounts of female hormones, develop breasts and initiate lactation, they could, through the miracles of modern technology, consider themselves mothers.

Although there are enough people who, I am sure, feel that they are 'mothers' already.
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