Samantha Casiano informed a Texas courtroom that she ought to have been in a position to let her daughter, who had anencephaly, “go to relaxation sooner.”
Danielle Villasana for NPR
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Danielle Villasana for NPR
Samantha Casiano informed a Texas courtroom that she ought to have been in a position to let her daughter, who had anencephaly, “go to relaxation sooner.”
Danielle Villasana for NPR
AUSTIN, Texas – Samantha Casiano, who gave beginning to a child who lived simply 4 hours, broke down and have become bodily ailing on the witness stand as she informed the story of her doomed being pregnant in an Austin, Texas, courtroom on Wednesday. Her husband, Luis Villasana, rushed to the entrance of the courtroom to assist her, throughout a listening to in a case difficult the abortion bans in Texas.
Casiano was one in all three girls who gave dramatic testimony about their pregnancies within the case introduced by the Middle for Reproductive Rights. The case, on behalf of 13 sufferers and two docs, argues that the medical exceptions to Texas’ legal guidelines are unclear and unworkable for docs in ways in which hurt sufferers and that the state has carried out nothing to make clear its legal guidelines.
In Wednesday’s continuing, which can proceed on Thursday, legal professionals for Casiano and the opposite plaintiffs requested the choose to briefly droop the bans for individuals who have medical problems of their pregnancies because the case proceeds. State Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton’s workplace is asking for the case to be dismissed.
The benches within the roomy, model new courtroom on the Travis County Civil District Court docket had been crammed with reporters, plaintiffs, and their supporters, together with a number of husbands. Members of the anti-abortion rights group Texas Alliance for Life had been additionally in attendance.
Eight attorneys represented the sufferers and docs difficult the legislation. On the opposite aspect of the room, two attorneys represented defendant Texas Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton. Choose Jessica Mangrum, elected as a Democratic judicial candidate in 2020, presided.
Throughout hours of emotional testimony, the courtroom felt tense and quiet. Casiano, who first informed her story to NPR in April, was so overcome as she described her experiences she cried, coughed, choked after which vomited within the witness field. The court docket was adjourned for a recess at that time.
When it was again in session, Casiano described what it was like to offer beginning to the daughter they named Halo. “She was gasping for air,” Casiano mentioned. “I simply stored telling myself and my child that I am so sorry that this has occurred to you. I felt so unhealthy. She had no mercy. There was no mercy there for her.”
Individuals within the courtroom wept as Casiano spoke.
The opposite girls with sophisticated pregnancies who testified had been Amanda Zurawski and Ashley Brandt. Brandt was in a position to journey out of Texas to obtain a selective discount for a twin whose cranium had not developed correctly. Zurawski’s water broke too early, however she was denied induction or abortion. She went into septic shock and was within the intensive care unit for 3 days.
Amanda Zurawski speaks throughout a press convention outdoors the Travis County Courthouse on July 19, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP through Getty Pictures
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SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP through Getty Pictures
Amanda Zurawski speaks throughout a press convention outdoors the Travis County Courthouse on July 19, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP through Getty Pictures
Lawyer Amy Pletscher, representing Paxton’s workplace, objected steadily as the ladies described their experiences with being pregnant problems that had been left untreated in Texas. She argued that it was not related to debate previous medical historical past, however the choose allowed the testimony to proceed. Pletscher additionally requested every affected person witness if Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton had personally denied them an abortion. Every mentioned no.
Molly Duane, the lawyer for the Middle for Reproductive Rights, attacked the defendant’s arguments, specified by a court docket submitting in June, that not one of the affected person plaintiffs have standing. Within the doc, the state argued that their previous hurt is the fault of the ladies’s docs and their future hurt — corresponding to harm to their reproductive well being — is hypothetical.
Duane countered: “Does the state suppose that the one one that would have standing to problem an abortion legislation is a girl who involves court docket with amniotic fluid or blood dripping down her leg?”
The ultimate witness who testified Wednesday was Dr. Damla Karsan, one of many doctor plaintiffs within the lawsuit. She described the case of a affected person whose fetus had a deadly situation who needed to drive 14 hours to get an abortion out of state. “I really feel like my arms are tied – I’ve the coaching, the talent, the expertise, even the amenities to supply the care, and I am unable to supply that care and it is – it is intestine wrenching,” Karsan testified.
Attorneys for Texas had been particularly aggressive in cross-examining Karsan. Lawyer Jonathan Stone repeatedly questioned whether or not she was aware of the exception language in Texas legislation previous to the present legal guidelines. He additionally questioned her about numerous insurance policies of the hospitals the place she works. In its June submitting, the attorneys for Paxton’s workplace referred to Karsan as an “abortionist” slightly than a doctor or OB-GYN.
In a press convention after the listening to adjourned, plaintiff Amanda Zurawski mentioned she was shocked by the callousness of her cross-examination. “I survived sepsis and I do not suppose in the present day was a lot much less traumatic than that,” she mentioned.
The listening to continues for a full day on Thursday. After it concludes, Choose Mangrum might rule on the momentary injunction and movement to dismiss at any time.
