Samantha Casiano informed a Texas courtroom that she ought to have been in a position to let her daughter, who had anencephaly, “go to rest 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 rest 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 in poor health 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 among three girls who gave dramatic testimony about their pregnancies within the case introduced by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The case, on behalf of 13 sufferers and two medical doctors, argues that the medical exceptions to Texas’ legal guidelines are unclear and unworkable for medical doctors in ways in which hurt sufferers and that the state has finished nothing to make clear its legal guidelines.

In Wednesday’s continuing, which can proceed on Thursday, attorneys for Casiano and the opposite plaintiffs requested the decide to quickly droop the bans for individuals who have medical issues of their pregnancies because the case proceeds. State Attorney General 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 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 medical doctors difficult the regulation. On the opposite aspect of the room, two attorneys represented defendant Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Judge Jessica Mangrum, elected as a Democratic judicial candidate in 2020, presided.

During hours of emotional testimony, the courtroom felt tense and quiet. Casiano, who first told 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 stated. “I just kept telling myself and my baby that I’m so sorry that this has happened to you. I felt so bad. She had no mercy. There was no mercy there for her.”

People within the courtroom wept as Casiano spoke.

The different 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 by way of Getty Images

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SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP by way of Getty Images

Amanda Zurawski speaks throughout a press convention outdoors the Travis County Courthouse on July 19, 2023 in Austin, Texas.

SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP by way of Getty Images

Attorney Amy Pletscher, representing Paxton’s workplace, objected steadily as the ladies described their experiences with being pregnant issues that had been left untreated in Texas. She argued that it was not related to debate previous medical historical past, however the decide allowed the testimony to proceed. Pletscher additionally requested every affected person witness if Attorney General Ken Paxton had personally denied them an abortion. Each stated no.

Molly Duane, the lawyer for the Center for Reproductive Rights, attacked the defendant’s arguments, specified by a court filing in June, that not one of the affected person plaintiffs have standing. In the doc, the state argued that their previous hurt is the fault of the ladies’s medical doctors and their future hurt — comparable to injury to their reproductive well being — is hypothetical.

Duane countered: “Does the state think that the only person who would have standing to challenge an abortion law is a woman who comes to court with amniotic fluid or blood dripping down her leg?”

The last 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 feel like my hands are tied – I have the training, the skill, the experience, even the facilities to provide the care, and I’m unable to provide that care and it’s – it’s gut wrenching,” Karsan testified.

Lawyers for Texas had been particularly aggressive in cross-examining Karsan. Attorney Jonathan Stone repeatedly questioned whether or not she was accustomed to the exception language in Texas regulation previous to the present legal guidelines. He additionally questioned her about varied 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” quite than a doctor or OB-GYN.

In a press convention after the listening to adjourned, plaintiff Amanda Zurawski stated she was shocked by the callousness of her cross-examination. “I survived sepsis and I don’t think today was much less traumatic than that,” she stated.

The listening to continues for a full day on Thursday. After it concludes, Judge Mangrum might rule on the non permanent injunction and movement to dismiss at any time.