https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d9y35/texas-women-testify-state-abortion-ban

‘No Mercy’: Women Denied #Abortions Testify, Cry, and Vomit in Texas Court
Carter Sherman

..."Casiano is one of 15 Texan women who were denied abortions and who have sued the state, arguing that they should have been allowed to have abortions under Texas’ overlapping bans, which permit people to get the procedure in medical emergencies. Some of these women, who live in communities across Texas, are mothers already, while others are desperate to have children. All have been devastated by their pregnancy losses.

Their case is believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind to be filed in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year. Wednesday also marked the first time since Roe’s overturning that women denied abortions have testified in court against an abortion ban, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the women.

The women are hoping for a ruling that would explain, exactly, when people in medical emergencies should be able to get abortions in Texas, but the case could also have implications that stretch far beyond the state’s borders. Texas is one of at least 14 states that have banned almost all abortions, but these states’ bans technically allow people to get abortions in medical emergencies. However, doctors across the country have repeatedly said that these exceptions are vague and contradictory, leading them to ignore their medical judgment and watch as patients get sick enough to qualify for abortions.
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Brandt said that she no longer feels safe getting pregnant in Texas. After their ordeal, she said, her husband got a vasectomy. They gave up their dream of raising three children.

Casiano, who returned to the stand after she threw up, was the third and final patient to share her story on the stand on Wednesday. A 29-year-old mother of four, Casiano learned that her fetus also had anencephaly. She wanted to get an abortion and release her baby to heaven, as she put it in court. But she didn’t have the money or resources to travel out of state, so she and her family started to prepare, instead, to bury her baby—a girl who they named Halo, “because she’s always going to be above us,” Casiano said.

They tried to raise money by selling soup, among other things.

After she gave birth, Casiano recalled, she had to watch her daughter struggle and gasp for air. As she testified, Casiano rocked back and forth as well as looked up and away, as if reliving the memory. She recalled watching her baby turn from pink to blue, from warm to cold, as she died over the course of four hours.

“I kept telling my baby, ‘I’m so sorry this had to happen to you,’” Casiano said. “There was no mercy for her and I couldn’t do anything.”...