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Abortion care is a 'calling' for this Texas doctor. Now he faces a dilemma: Risk lawsuits, or quit.
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The Lily
Abortion care is a ‘calling’ for this Texas doctor. Now he faces a dilemma: Risk lawsuits, or quit.
Joe Nelson is weighing his options as courts weigh in on the nation’s strictest abortion ban
Caroline Kitchener
October 8, 2021
This story has been updated.
AUSTIN — Joe Nelson arrived at the abortion clinic at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 8. The doctor made himself a cup of coffee, chatted with the receptionist, then settled into a desk cluttered with paperwork and maxi pads. He answered some emails. Then he opened his book on Zen Buddhism and read.
He did not see a patient for almost two hours.
Before Sept. 1, when Texas banned almost all abortions, Nelson rarely sat down. The only full-time doctor at Whole Woman’s Health in Austin, he hustled from room to room. For lunch, he would scarf down a protein bar.
Nelson used to perform up to 30 abortions a day; since the ban took effect, he might do two or three. That didn’t change when a federal judge issued an injunction on Oct. 6, temporarily blocking the law, which bans abortions once early cardiac activity can be detected, around six weeks gestation, before most people know they’re pregnant. Like many other doctors in Texas, Nelson decided to continue complying with the ban until other courts weighed in. On Oct. 8, the conservative-leaning U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction. Abortion after six weeks is, once again, illegal.
[ Despite latest court ruling blocking Texas abortion law, most providers are still reluctant to defy ban]
{snip}
Caroline Kitchener
Caroline Kitchener is a staff reporter at The Lily. Prior to joining The Washington Post in 2019, she was an associate editor at The Atlantic. She is the author of "Post Grad: Five Women and Their First Year Out of College."
Recommended by The Lily
The Lily
Abortion care is a ‘calling’ for this Texas doctor. Now he faces a dilemma: Risk lawsuits, or quit.
Joe Nelson is weighing his options as courts weigh in on the nation’s strictest abortion ban
Caroline Kitchener
October 8, 2021
This story has been updated.
AUSTIN — Joe Nelson arrived at the abortion clinic at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 8. The doctor made himself a cup of coffee, chatted with the receptionist, then settled into a desk cluttered with paperwork and maxi pads. He answered some emails. Then he opened his book on Zen Buddhism and read.
He did not see a patient for almost two hours.
Before Sept. 1, when Texas banned almost all abortions, Nelson rarely sat down. The only full-time doctor at Whole Woman’s Health in Austin, he hustled from room to room. For lunch, he would scarf down a protein bar.
Nelson used to perform up to 30 abortions a day; since the ban took effect, he might do two or three. That didn’t change when a federal judge issued an injunction on Oct. 6, temporarily blocking the law, which bans abortions once early cardiac activity can be detected, around six weeks gestation, before most people know they’re pregnant. Like many other doctors in Texas, Nelson decided to continue complying with the ban until other courts weighed in. On Oct. 8, the conservative-leaning U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction. Abortion after six weeks is, once again, illegal.
[ Despite latest court ruling blocking Texas abortion law, most providers are still reluctant to defy ban]
{snip}
Caroline Kitchener
Caroline Kitchener is a staff reporter at The Lily. Prior to joining The Washington Post in 2019, she was an associate editor at The Atlantic. She is the author of "Post Grad: Five Women and Their First Year Out of College."
Recommended by The Lily
