Austin, TX
At five hour hearing, no one is happy with Texas Medical Board’s proposed abortion guidance
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When Sarah Harrison addressed the Texas Medical Board at a virtual hearing Monday, she added her name to the growing list of Texas women who have shared stories of being denied medically necessary abortions.
Her testimony provided a timely example of exactly how confusing the state’s abortion laws can be in action, even to those tasked with enforcing them.
Harrison, an Austin attorney, learned late last year that one of her twins was not going to survive outside the womb. Her doctors advised her to travel out of state for a selective reduction to terminate the nonviable fetus.
On Monday, Harrison asked the medical board to more explicitly inform doctors they can perform selective reductions if continuing the pregnancy threatens the other fetus’ life. She pointed to the part of the law that says it is not an abortion if it is intended to “save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child.”
Stephen “Brint” Carlton, the board’s executive director, corrected her, saying that line applies to things like fetal surgeries and other interventions aimed at saving single pregnancies, not selective reductions of multiples. But then board chair Dr. Sherif Zaafran chimed in, saying that, in general, if a doctor feels a selective reduction is the standard of care and other expert physicians agree, it could potentially be allowed.
Harrison pushed back, saying her doctors did believe a selective reduction to be the standard of care.
“Under threat of criminal prosecution and losing their license, they were not going to provide a reduction because they couldn’t prove that I was at serious risk of losing my life or serious bodily function,” she said.
Later in the hearing, a retired OB/GYN said he didn’t believe Harrison would have qualified for an abortion in Texas. Then, a health lawyer weighed in to say she agreed with Harrison’s interpretation of the law.
“I thought that exception applied until I heard you today,” Louise Joy, an attorney who advises Texas hospitals, said to Carlton. “But that’s the very confusion we have.”
This is but one example of the ongoing confusion among doctors and lawyers about how to interpret the new abortion laws. The medical board has proposed guidance to clarify some of that uncertainty, but five hours of testimony and hundreds of written comments later, it’s clear no one is particularly pleased with their first attempt including, it seems, the medical board itself.
Zaafran said repeatedly that they would consider revisiting aspects of the proposal where doctors’ interpretations of the guidance was at odds with the boards’ intent.
“If the board was perfect, which we’re certainly not, then that would be it,” Zaafran said. “But having 1,000 sets of eyes [helps with] highlighting things that we may have overlooked and blind spots that we may not have been able to highlight.”
Guidance pushback
The Texas Medical Board initially resisted calls to issue guidance to doctors on how to interpret the state’s new abortion laws. Even after the Texas Supreme Court called on the licensing agency to “assess various hypothetical circumstances, provide best practices, identify red lines, and the like,” the board averred.
But after Steve and Amy Bresnen, Austin attorneys and health lobbyists, filed an official petition, the board conceded, issuing this first proposal in March. At Monday’s stakeholder hearing, doctors, lawyers and advocates across the political spectrum testified that the guidance did not clarify when doctors can act and, in fact, adds additional confusion.
In addition to gathering all the definitions from different abortion statutes in one place, the guidance primarily lists out what doctors are expected to document when deciding whether to perform an abortion.
“Unfortunately, the increased requirements for documentation are truly unworkable,” testified Dr. Richard Todd Ivey, a Houston OB/GYN. “The need for literature searches, attempts to transfer patients by any means available, documentation of how we determined a woman’s danger of death or serious risks, the need for consultations or opinions of medical ethics committees, attempts at alternative treatments and determination of a woman’s risk to support a particular method of termination. These are all incredibly cumbersome and time consuming.”
Several people raised concerns that the documentation could delay care in an emergency situation.
“A cesarean hysterectomy can lead to five liters of blood loss in three minutes,” said Dr. Joseph Valenti, an OB/GYN who serves on the Texas Medical Association’s Board of Trustees. “We don’t want to be documenting while we’re having blood loss or a baby is dropping heart tones.”
Zaafran said it wasn’t the board’s intent to require a doctor to document all of these things, or to document anything before acting in an emergency situation. He said the board would work to clarify that language.
Several speakers criticized the aspect of the guidance that tells doctors to document whether there was time to transfer a patient to another facility to avoid terminating the pregnancy. This provision sparked alarm among doctors and lawyers who felt it was adding an additional requirement that wasn’t in the law.
“The requirement to determine when there was an adequate time to transfer the patient by any means available is so vague as to be unworkable,” testified Molly Duane, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Physicians need guidance on when they can provide abortions, not more reasons why they shouldn’t.”
Duane said the board had an important role to play, and while some aspects of the guidance were useful, others were “very confusing and will inevitably chill physicians’ reliance on the medical exemption.”
Dr. Ingrid Skopp, a leading anti-abortion OB/GYN based in San Antonio, testified that she has seen firsthand what happens when doctors hesitate to act. Last week, she said, she treated a woman in the emergency room who was hemorrhaging from a miscarriage that had been diagnosed two weeks earlier. Her doctor required her to have a follow-up ultrasound before he would surgically remove the fetal tissue, she said.
“He could have intervened and spared the woman the emotionally and physically traumatic experience that she had in my emergency room,” Skopp testified. “Stories like this abound in Texas not because of the laws but because of the failure of hospitals and medical industry organizations to provide guidance to physicians.”
Skopp said her fellow doctors’ fears were “irrational,” but called on the medical board to clearly reassure them that they can rely on their reasonable medical judgment to decide when to perform an abortion.
But with a potential for up to life in prison, a $100,000 fine and the loss of medical license for performing a prohibited abortion, some doctors testified that their fears are anything but irrational.
“These decisions should be made by a patient in consultation with their physicians, because that is the practice of medicine,” Ivey testified. “We as physicians want to work within the confines of the law, but we cannot do so if our hands are tied.”
Weighing imminence
In addition to Harrison, several women who say they were denied medically necessary abortions testified at the hearing. Kate Cox, a 31-year-old Dallas mom who sued to terminate her pregnancy after a lethal fetal anomaly diagnosis, testified that this guidance would not have helped her doctors, who agreed that she needed an abortion.
“We should not force pregnant Texans to get sicker or to wait for an inevitable miscarriage and go through childbirth to deliver a baby that has died or will certainly die,” Cox testified. “It is medically reasonable to give mothers and families the best chance at building their families which may include terminating a non-viable pregnancy so they can have a chance at a viable one. I needed that chance.”
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that Cox did not qualify for an abortion, even as it clarified in that ruling that a medical emergency need not be imminent to justify performing the procedure. Several groups, including the anti-abortion Texas Alliance for Life, called on the board to add this language to the guidance, which Zaafran said they would consider.
Zaafran said while it was clear doctors could act if there was an emergency situation, when “there’s a little bit more time to make a methodical judgment as to what should be done,” it might require a doctor to take the additional steps listed in the guidance.
“Let me clarify here that this is not just like any other typical medical procedure,” he said. “We’re talking about termination of a life here, and whether it is okay to do that.”
The board is considering testimony and written comments ahead of its June meeting, and will either put forward the existing guidance for a vote, or start the public comment process over again with revised guidance.
Disclosure: Texas Medical Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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Austin, TX
Taking a Look Back at Ole Miss’ Matchups vs. Newest Members of the SEC
July 1 marks the first day the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners will officially be members of the Southeastern Conference, a day that will be exciting for not just their fans, but college football fans as a whole.
The SEC landscape is changing, and with that will comes the budding of new rivalries that you wouldn’t have thought possible just five years ago. Alas, the SEC will be more toxic than ever, and as college football fans, can you ask for anything more?
While the Ole Miss Rebels have rarely faced Oklahoma and Texas, it has happened in the not-so-distant past. Let’s take a look at the last time Ole Miss has matched up against these two teams.
Oklahoma — 1999
On a chilly New Year’s Eve in Shreveport, the Oklahoma Sooners and Ole Miss Rebels met for the first and only time in the 1999 Independence Bowl.
A battle of first-year head coaches David Cutcliffe and Bob Stoops also featured first-year offensive coordinator Mike Leach on the Oklahoma sideline. This game featured some familiar names as Josh Heupel (now Tennessee’s head coach) ran the show at quarterback for the Sooners.
The 1999 season was anything but fun for the Rebels as all of their losses that season were one-possession games, but they did have Deuce McCallister, and on that cold night in Shreveport, he definitely was loose.
Deuce had a monster game with 121 yards on the ground plus 55 yards receiving on three receptions. Quarterback Romaro Miller had a great first half where the Rebels held a 21-3 lead entering halftime.
Heupel led a fiery comeback in the second half, but the Rebel lead held at 27-25, giving them their third bowl win in a row and finishing 22nd in the polls.
The Sooners and Rebels will meet again in October at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for the second act of what could turn out to be a nice little rivalry sooner rather than later.
Texas — 2013
The Longhorns and Rebels have met five times in their history, but in 2012, they saw their first meeting since 1925.
The home-and-home series between Texas was a very exciting endeavor for the Rebels as fans weren’t used to the team playing blue-blood competition that didn’t reside in the SEC.
In 2012, the Rebels got embarrassed in the Vaught, so in 2013, they decided to return the favor in Austin.
Jeff Scott had a monster game for the Rebels on the ground as the Longhorn defense had no answers for the potent Ole Miss rushing attack. Scott and quarterback Bo Wallace had the read option humming as they continued to gash the Horns up front all night.
Scott ended the night with 164 yards and a score. Wide receiver Donte Moncrief got in on the action as well with a touchdown catch, and the Rebels made a statement to the rest of the country that they could play with the big boys.
The Longhorns in the 2010s were not the Longhorns of the Vince Young era, as they were not built to stop the run. The Rebels exploited that weakness and had a field day on the ground.
While this win looked good on paper, the Rebels went into Tuscaloosa the next week and got beat 25-0 to slow some of that momentum.
The 2013 Rebels were similar to the 1999 Rebels in the fact that they lost a lot of close ballgames to some talented teams. The Rebels would go on to beat Georgia Tech in the Music City Bowl to finish the year 8-5.
Ole Miss won’t play Texas for the next couple of years, but the reinstatement of this game should be fun for both fan bases to travel and enjoy two of the top towns for college football.
Austin, TX
How to protect your vehicle from the Texas heat this summer
AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s summertime in Texas, and with it comes more extreme heat and the possibility of severe weather. Paired with more intense weather patterns is summer vacation, a time when many Texans will likely hit the roads seeking a little rest and reprieve.
Before a storm front rolls in or you venture off for a road trip, here are some key areas you should check on your vehicle to ensure you’re traveling safely.
Your summertime car care checklist
“Starting off, severe weather or not, [you should be] making sure that your tires are in good condition, your tire thread has good life on it,” said AJ Garza, a regional manager for Jiffy Lube with oversight on the San Antonio and Austin markets.
During the summer months, the extreme heat radiating off roadways can threaten your tires if they’re more worn down and in need of replacement, Garza said. Ensuring they’re in good condition can help drivers avoid a blowout while driving, he added.
Three other key checkpoints on your vehicle include wiper blades, lights and the battery. Wiper blades eventually wear down after exposure to extreme temperatures, especially when paired with grime and debris and extended use. AAA recommends replacing them at least once a year if not more frequently, given Texas’ more intense climate.
For lights, Garza said this is especially critical if drivers are anticipating severe weather, such as rainstorms. Checking to make sure the lights work will ensure you can safely navigate roads, should you get caught in a downpour or other intense storms.
As for the battery, it’s no surprise that monitoring its condition and lifespan is especially crucial in Texas. Extremely high temperatures can overwork a battery and cause them to die.
“The extreme heat just completely puts a huge damper on your battery, so it can drain your battery out,” Garza said. “The extreme heat also breaks down your coolant and antifreeze a lot faster, which can lead to a vehicle overheating.”
Garza recommended checking to make sure your backup and spare reservoirs are at the proper level and the fluid is within its lifespan and hasn’t broken down.
Finally, with air conditioners, he said drivers should check to make sure their Freon — the non-combustible gas used in ACs — has been replenished. Garza added most manufacturers recommend drivers add new Freon in every two to four years.
A standard re-up item on a car Garza warned drivers not to forget about is their brakes. Those should be inspected routinely by a service center any time you’re getting an oil change.
There are also plenty of shops that’ll do a free visual brake check. He cautioned drivers to stay on top of routine maintenance so they’re not waiting until they’re in the “red zone” to do something about it.
“[Jiffy Lube operates] in green, yellow and red, which green is in good condition, yellow is for your consideration and red is for immediate attention,” he said. “So when it comes to brakes, nobody ever wants to wait for your brakes to meet in the red.”
What should you always have on hand in your car, in case of an emergency?
One guarantee is that you never know when you might run into an issue with your vehicle, but Garza said drivers can prepare themselves with a few simple items.
The first is a first aid kit, in case a situation arises and someone needs lower-level medical care. From there, he stressed the value of having jumper cables tucked away into your car.
A spare gas container is also recommended in case you run out of gas and you need to go fill up the extra container to replenish fuel levels.
Handheld air compressors are a small but mighty tool that can refill a tires in a pinch. Keeping extra phone chargers on hand in the event of an emergency is also one way to keep people safe and seek out help, as needed.
Garza suggested carrying a couple of spare blinkers or headlights, in case one goes out.
“If you know what your headlight is, it’s always good to just have one extra on your blinkers or your license plate lights,” he said. “Because you always want to be able to not only see but be seen.”
Austin, TX
Missing man's friends find phone on ground hours after he was last seen: APD
AUSTIN, Texas – The Austin Police Department is looking for a missing man who was last seen Saturday afternoon in the Rainey Street area.
40-year-old Daniel Choi was last seen just after 1 p.m. on June 29 in the 600 block of Davis Street.
APD says Choi’s friends found his phone on the ground at Cesar Chavez and South 1st Street, less than a mile away, at about 5:45 p.m.
The department says that there is a concern as Choi needs medication and has no wallet or phone and this is considered out of the ordinary behavior for him.
Choi is described as a white male, 5’8″ and 130 lbs, with straight black hair and limited use of his right arm. He was last seen wearing blue swim shorts with a bird print and a blue T-shirt.
Anyone who sees Choi should call 9-1-1 immediately or the APD Missing Person’s Unit at 512-974-5250.
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