By Rebecca Guerrero
In the past year, while trying to have a baby, I’ve suffered two miscarriages. Each time, a feeling of dread as the doctor searched in silence for a missing heartbeat. Each time, mechanical nodding through technical information which went mostly unheard as I attempted not to cry in front of medical staff. Each time, a slew of decisions to be made in a vulnerable situation.
But there was a significant difference between my two miscarriages. During the first loss, my medical providers were in El Paso, and during the second, they were in Juárez. In the midst of grief during my second loss, I remember thinking to myself “at least this time I’m here.”
Prior to this, I could not have imagined placing more trust in the healthcare system in Mexico than the United States. But that was before Texas became a draconian landscape for reproductive rights.
Texas has been enacting restrictive abortion measures since the early 2000s, but recent laws endanger the lives of all pregnant people – not only those seeking elective abortion.
After the 2022 overturn of Roe Vs. Wade, Texas’ trigger ban criminalized nearly all abortions from conception and imposed severe penalties on doctors who perform them. Senate Bill 8, the “Heartbeat Act,” empowered private citizens to file lawsuits against anyone who “aids and abets” an abortion, creating a chilling effect for doctors who provide miscarriage care.
I had a “silent” miscarriage – where the body fails to recognize the loss and doesn’t expel tissue – commonly treated with a dilation and curettage procedure to remove the products of conception. During my first miscarriage, this procedure was delayed, not because of Texas’s abortion laws (in my case it was allowable because the heartbeat had ceased) but because the holidays got in the way. Neither my fertility doctor nor my OBGYN would schedule during office closures; it was not considered urgent.
I carried a deceased pregnancy for nearly two weeks – only moderately risky from a medical standpoint but psychologically and physically challenging, nonetheless. I bled frequently, experienced pain and consistently debated visits to the emergency room.
When the procedure was finally completed, my doctor told me the removed tissue had become necrotic – the perfect condition for bacteria to grow and sepsis to develop if left untreated.
I ultimately got the procedure I needed, but this experience helped me understand the kind of fear – the nightmare scenario – that many women and couples in Texas have faced, some with tragic ends.
Nevaeh Crain, Porsha Ngumezi, Josseli Barnica and Tierra Walker all died when their providers delayed care due to a remaining fetal heartbeat during active miscarriage and high risk situations, or deviated from standard procedures like the D&C which has become entangled in confusion since it is the same procedure used for elective abortions.
A recent study by ProPublica found that the rate of sepsis rose by more than 50% for women hospitalized due to pregnancy loss in the second trimester after Texas’ abortion ban. This daunting information is enough to give many women of childbearing age in Texas pause in their decisions to start families. Friends I’ve spoken with share versions of the same worry: “I think I’d like to have kids, but I don’t want to get pregnant here, it’s too risky.”
While Texas has some of the harshest restrictions in the nation, El Paso – as it often does – feels somewhat removed from the rest of the state in terms of practice. El Pasoans can still access abortions and reproductive care by traveling out of the state to New Mexico or across the border to Ciudad Juárez.
I know several people who choose to see OBGYNs in Las Cruces for the assurance that their doctors will have the freedom to prioritize their health if a need should arise.
I began fertility treatment in Juárez primarily because the cost of IVF is greatly reduced across the border, but the desire to be away from Texas’s policies was also a factor. My second miscarriage was treated there the same day of diagnosis, a streamlined process that left me feeling as though my immediate health was a priority, something I didn’t experience when miscarrying in Texas.
I feel lucky to have the option to seek care outside of Texas, but I worry that my ability to do so could disappear under continued conservative state leadership.
Travel bans and “abortion trafficking” laws have been proposed and implemented in restrictive states, including in several Texas counties. El Paso does not have any such laws yet, so we have not felt the full effect that places like Lubbock and Cochran counties have, but we would be foolish to assume it couldn’t happen here.
The 2026 November midterms are around the corner. The state has decided to delay the release of the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee’s biannual report until December, though it was originally scheduled to be released Sept. 1.
This is a deliberate political move; it means voters can’t use the information in the report to inform their choices. It also seems to suggest that state leadership anticipates high enough numbers in the report to impact voter decisions.
Gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa has stated that expanding abortion access in Texas would not be her priority; she sees it as an unrealistic goal in a Republican-controlled state and she is not wrong.
Even so, she is still the only choice for anyone who cares about reproductive health in Texas; she has stated her intent to push to end criminal penalties for doctors who perform life-saving abortion measures and this is a hugely important step.
Equally important in these midterms is the chance to unseat Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and prevent Ken Paxton from gaining the U.S. Senate seat. Both men’s records show aggressive enforcement of the state’s near total abortion bans. While Patrick has stated that SB 8 must be clarified to protect women with high-risk pregnancies, no official clarification appears to have been made.
As a woman in Texas, I feel as though each new attempt at parenthood is a gamble. It increases my statistical likelihood of facing the kind of medical emergency that has already claimed the lives of at least four Texans.
The severe policies implemented and enforced by our current administration cause undue harm that could impact any woman, El Pasoans included.
Regardless of your personal convictions around abortion, I suggest that we should all be able to rally behind policy changes which would allow doctors to use their best judgment without fear of severe repercussions.
The best way you and I can advocate for those changes is through our vote. Early voting starts Oct. 19.
Rebecca Guerrero is a graduate of the master of arts in teaching English program at the University of Texas at El Paso and is an English language arts teacher.
The post Opinion: El Paso women cannot underestimate the danger in Texas’ extreme reproductive policies appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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