On Monday night, NBC Nightly News ran a ludicrous segment meant to smear Texas’s fetal heartbeat law which prohibits abortions once a baby’s heartbeat is detected. To accomplish their goal, correspondent Kristen Dahlgren touted a “study” by a Texas abortionist which falsely claims women need to be on the verge of death to receive an abortion. In reality, there is no law in the country that prevents women from getting an abortion if their life is at risk.
Dahlgren opened her report by claiming “when Elizabeth Weller’s water broke at just 4 & 1/2 months pregnant, she was told it would take a miracle for her daughter to survive.” Adding that according to Texas resident Elizabeth Weller, she “was at a high risk of infection” and “was told she was not sick enough to immediately end the pregnancy.”
When Weller was asked by Dahlgren if she was “sent home to basically get sicker,” Weller claimed, “the nurses essentially told me you’re being sent home to develop the signs of an infection.”
Touting the so-called “study” by Houston Texas abortionist Dr. Anitra Beasley, Dahlgren proclaimed “Researchers looked at 28 recent cases in Dallas where doctors had to delay care until there was an immediate threat to patients’ lives. Nearly 60 percent developed severe complications, one was in intensive care, others given blood transfusions, only one baby survived, so underdeveloped it needed life support.”
Turning to state Senator Brian Hughes who actually wrote the bill, which should’ve been done in the first place, Dahlgren snarked “how close to death does a patient need to be before SB 8 would allow termination?”
Hughes set the record straight:
Under Texas law, a doctor sees that condition and based on reasonable medical probability knows this is going to happen. They can act. They do not have to wait for a condition to be aggravated.
Not happy with the truth, Dahlgren continued spouting her false narrative about the Texas law: “he says there has been outreach to doctors and hospitals to clarify. But for Dr. Beasley, there is nothing clearer than the study.”
In reality, what’s at issue here isn’t whether pregnant women can receive an abortion if their life is otherwise at stake, as previously mentioned every single state allows it. The real issue is that women whose lives or that of their unborn babies aren’t at risk are getting abortions for no other reason than that of convenience. There also appears to be an issue where health care providers might not be getting the proper guidance from their legal teams.
MRCTV’s Tierin-Rose Mandelburg contributed to this report.
This pro-abortion segment was made possible by Progressive. Their information is linked so you can let them know about the kind of news they fund.
To read the transcript of this segment click “expand”:
NBC Nightly News
August 8, 2022
7:15:58 p.m. EasternTOM LLAMAS: As more states move to restrict abortion, a study in Texas reveals how the state’s near-total ban is impacting maternal care. It finds pregnant patients with complications face double the risk of patients in states without bans. Here’s Kristen Dahlgren.
KRISTEN DAHLGREN: When Elizabeth Weller’s water broke at just 4 & 1/2 months pregnant, she was told it would take a miracle for her daughter to survive.
ELIZABETH WELLER: It was the not being able to see her take her first steps or see–send her off to school for the first time.
DAHLGREN: While Elizabeth was at a high risk of infection, she was told she was not sick enough to immediately end the pregnancy. So you were sent home to basically get sicker?
WELLER: Yes. The nurses essentially told me you’re being sent home to develop the signs of an infection.
DAHLGREN: Days later when she was infected, doctors finally induced labor. And while she and her husband are still mourning the daughter they named Theodora, a new study shows their experience is not unique. Researchers looked at 28 recent cases in Dallas where doctors had to delay care until there was an immediate threat to patients’ lives. Nearly 60 percent developed severe complications, one was in intensive care, others given blood transfusions, only one baby survived, so underdeveloped it needed life support.
DR. ANITRA BEASLEY: This is what happens when we cannot provide the standard of care right up front.
DAHLGREN: Houston Dr. Anitra Beasley recently published similar findings on the Texas heartbeat bill called SB 8.
BEASLEY: What we found was that SB 8 really created a chilling effect on reproductive health care. Physicians were unclear if they could counsel patients, refer patients, having to really wait until something became life-threatening before they could intervene.
DAHLGREN: State Senator Brian Hughes wrote SB 8 and admits he’s troubled by the recent study.
SEN. BRIAN HUGHES: Maybe they’re confused by the law in other states or misled by other stories. But for those medical emergencies, the law hasn’t changed.
DAHLGREN: How close to death does a patient need to be before SB 8 would allow termination?
HUGHES: Under Texas law, a doctor sees that condition and based on reasonable medical probability knows this is going to happen. They can act. They do not have to wait for a condition to be aggravated.
DAHLGREN: He says there has been outreach to doctors and hospitals to clarify. But for Dr. Beasley, there is nothing clearer than the study.
So is the data that you’re seeing a warning to other places considering bans?
BEASLEY: If it’s not, I think that it absolutely should be.
DAHLGREN: The Wellers also worry about the future.
MR. WELLER: It makes me not want to start a family here. It’s not safe.
DAHLGREN: They say they have seen that firsthand. Kristen Dahlgren, NBC News, Houston.
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