Case 2:22-cv-00223-Z Document 137 Filed 04/07/23 Page 8 of 67 PageID 4430
tissue as the only means to save the life of the woman or girl.” ECF No. 1 at 85. Members of Plaintiff medical associations “oppose being forced to end the life of a human being in the womb for no medical reason, including by having to complete an incomplete elective chemical abortion.” Id. at 86; see also Texas v. Becerra, No. 5:22-CV-185-H, 2022 WL 3639525, at *12 (N.D. Tex. Aug. 23, 2022) (unwanted participation in elective abortions is cognizable under Article III).
Plaintiffs also argue the challenged actions “prevent Plaintiff doctors from practicing evidence-based medicine” and have caused Plaintiffs to face increased exposure to allegations of malpractice and potential liability, along with higher insurance costs. ECF No. 7 at 15. The lack of information on adverse events “harms the doctor-patient relationship” because women and girls are prevented from giving informed consent to providers. Id.; see also American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics, Opinion 2.1.1: Informed Consent (informed consent is “fundamental in both ethics and law”). To obtain informed consent, physicians must “[a]ssess the patient’s ability to understand relevant medical information” and present to their patient “relevant information accurately and sensitively,” including the burdens and risks of the procedure. Id.
Women also perceive the harm to the informed-consent aspect of the physician-patient relationship. In one study, fourteen percent of women and girls reported having received insufficient information about (1) side effects, (2) the intensity of the cramping and bleeding, (3) the next steps after expelling the aborted human, and (4) potential negative emotional reactions like fear, uncertainty, sadness, regret, and pain. See Katherine A. Rafferty & Tessa Longbons, #AbortionChangesYou: A Case Study to Understand the Communicative Tensions in Women’s Medication Abortion Narratives, 36 Health Commc’n 1485, 1485–94 (2021). Plaintiff physicians’ lack of pertinent information on chemical abortion harms their physician-patient relationships because they cannot receive informed consent from the women and
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