AUSTIN, Texas — It's been three years since Josseli Barnica left behind her daughter and husband.
According to a new ProPublica report, the 28-year-old Houston mom was having a miscarriage at 17 weeks.
"Her cervix was open; the fetus was already on the verge of coming out," said Kavitha Surana, ProPublica reporter.
Surana, who helped investigate and write this report, said doctors made Barnica wait 40 hours for the fetus' heartbeat to stop to perform the necessary medical abortion. The wait caused her to get an infection.
"Barca's husband says that she was told that it would be a crime for doctors to intervene," said Surana. "Texas's first abortion law, the six-week ban, had just gone into effect a few days earlier, and it told doctors they had to record that there was no fetal heartbeat before intervening."
Surana said dozens of medical professionals said her death was preventable and waiting to take action went against the standard of care.
"Deaths are tragic and preventable deaths even more so," said Texas Alliance For Life communications director Amy O'Donnell.
O'Donnell said doctors shouldn't be confused about the law, and that even in 2021 it was clear. She said Barnica deserved a doctor who understood the law.
"They want to place blame where blame does not fall," said O'Donnell. "Physicians have to provide the standard of care exercising their reasonable medical judgment to perform life-saving abortions before the threat to a mother's life is imminent, and Texas law allows that."
On the other side, ACLU of Texas Senior Staff Attorney David Donatti said the laws about when an abortion is acceptable are not clear.
"We also have a number of criminal law provisions, all of which make it so that doctors feel like they can't provide basic health care," said Donatti. "Doctors feel like they are torn between either civil liability lawsuits by private bounty hunters, 99 years in prison or committing medical malpractice at the cost of people's health and livelihood."
Either way, Josseli is no longer here to see her child grow up.