Texas woman dies after waiting 40 hours for miscarriage care

A Texas mother who suffered a miscarriage died after waiting 40 hours for care because hospital staff feared being accused of a crime.

Josseli Barnica, 28, was pregnant with her second child when she developed complications at 17 weeks.

The fetus was on its way out and her cervix was dilated. The doctors noted that the Houston mother’s miscarriage was “in process,” a ProPublica report found.

However, doctors told her and her husband that under Texas law they had to wait until there was no fetal heartbeat before they could intervene.

Just two days earlier, on September 1, 2021, the state’s “six-week” abortion law had been passed, banning the procedure from the moment the fetus has a heartbeat.

Barnica was left untreated for almost two days, causing her to develop a fatal infection.

She died just three days after giving birth on September 8 of “acute bacterial endometritis and cervicitis following a spontaneous abortion,” according to her medical notes.

“I definitely expected her to come home,” Barnica’s husband said.

“Josseli Barnica should be alive today, but because of Texas’ cruel abortion ban, she couldn’t get the care she needed,” said Texas Rep. Colin Allred. ‘

“We must ensure that every Texas woman has access to the lifesaving care she needs.”

Roe v Wade had yet to be overturned at the time of Barnica’s death, but Texas had implemented harsh civil penalties for doctors who performed abortions after six weeks by allowing the public to sue them for $10,000 judgments.

Texas abortion law prohibits this procedure when a fetal heartbeat is detected, except in circumstances where the mother’s life is in danger.

She was pregnant with her second child when she developed complications at seventeen weeks and died of a bacterial infection after doctors waited almost two days to treat her.

However, critics say the ambiguity within the legislation leaves doctors feeling paralyzed.

ACLU of Texas Senior Staff Attorney David Donatti shared KVUE Abortion laws are unclear and the confusion is proving deadly.

“Physicians feel like they are torn between civil liability lawsuits by private bounty hunters, 99 years in prison, or committing medical malpractice at the expense of people’s health and livelihoods,” Donatti told KVUE.

The medics responsible for her care cited Texas abortion laws, which prevented them from taking action until the fetus’s heartbeat was no longer detected for failure to act sooner.

But Texas Alliance For Life communications director Amy O’Donnell blamed Barnica’s death on her doctors instead of the law.

“They want to put the blame where the blame isn’t,” O’Donnell said.

“Physicians must provide the standard of care using their reasonable medical judgment to perform life-saving abortions before a threat to a mother’s life is imminent, and Texas law allows that.

“Deaths are tragic and preventable deaths even more so.”

Reports of Barnica’s death came after stories emerged of the deaths of Georgia woman Amber Thurman and Candi Miller after they were unable to receive timely medical care.

The deaths were deemed “preventable” by the U.S. Maternal Mortality Review Board. Abortion is banned in Georgia after six weeks, with some exceptions.