Maternal Health

The lawsuit filed on behalf of five patients who said their lives were put at risk and two physicians asks a state judge to clarify exceptions for medical emergencies under Texas law.

Local doctors have seen a surge in requests for vasectomies and salpingectomies since Texas' abortion bans went into effect. Some people see this as a way to remain childfree, while others want to avoid high-risk pregnancies.

Laws banning abortion in many conservative U.S. states are expected to boost birth rates among adolescents, whose bodies often aren't built for safe childbirth, or for carrying a pregnancy to term.

Greg Abbott claimed Texas provides expectant mothers “necessary resources so that they can choose life for their child,” but it is now one of a dwindling number of states not to offer Medicaid coverage for a full year after residents give birth.

The idea of adoption as an alternative to abortion was raised earlier this month as the Supreme Court considered a Mississippi law to restrict access to abortion.

But a proposed bill in the state Legislature could extend health benefits to new moms on Medicaid.

From Texas Standard:A recently-published health study indicates expectant mothers living near extensive oil and gas development run a higher risk of…