It is called ‘wrongful birth.’ That is a term used in legal suits against doctors who deliberately failed to inform pregnant women of a defect in the fetus during an ultrasound and other prenatal tests.
Well, going forward doctors in Texas can deliberately fail to inform pregnant women of any fetal defects and not worry about being sued. This development comes after the Texas Senate passed a bill that makes it legal for doctors not to disclose any defects in the fetus during the ultrasound and any other prenatal tests.
Critics of the Texas Senate Bill 25 argue that it gives way for doctors to lie to pregnant women on discoveries they make during the prenatal tests. Indeed this development removes the choice for expectant mothers who would have liked to terminate the pregnancy upon discovering something is wrong with the fetus.
The bill passed yesterday by a 21-9 vote removes any legal liability to the doctors in such cases. Critics of the bill argue it opens a wide door for doctors opposed to abortion to lie to their patients. They say the doctor might deliberately decide to withhold information from the patient, to prevent them from aborting the pregnancy.
In a statement to the Huffing Post, Heather Busby the Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, an advocacy group said:
“Pregnant Texans deserve to feel like they can trust their doctor to provide them with all the information and when the doctor does not do that, those families deserve to have a legal avenue to seek compensation to care for special needs children.”
Texas Senator Brandon Creighton, a proponent and the author of the bill, has fervently denied the claims that it allowed doctors to lie, said; “The bill does not permit a physician to lie…does not decrease a physician’s standards of care or responsibilities, period.”