Dallas OBGYN who fled Texas to have abortion attends State of the Union Address
DALLAS — Dr. Austin Dennard, an OBGYN who fled Texas to have an abortion, will be in the United States House chamber as President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.
She was invited by North Texas Congressman Colin Allred, who's the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.
Dennard told CBS News Texas, "I never really imagined I would ever be going to the State of the Union, but I'm incredibly honored."
She said she hopes her attendance there will spread the word about Texas' abortion ban.
The only exception to the ban is when the mother's life is in danger.
Two years ago, she went for an ultrasound eleven weeks into her pregnancy and quickly realized a devastating and deadly condition in which the skull and brain of the baby wouldn't fully develop.
Dennard said, "I knew the diagnosis the moment I looked at the ultrasound screen."
"I could tell there was something wrong with my pregnancy. It was a moment I'll never forget, and it still brings me to tears to think about it because any mother is going to be looking at the screen and hoping please God, let this not be true, let this be a healthy pregnancy, but the physician side of me knew what I was seeing."
When asked if her life was in jeopardy at the time Dennard said, "So this is the problem. My life at that moment when I was diagnosed with a pregnancy that had an anencephaly was not in immediate danger. I was not hemorrhaging. I was not infected."
"Because of that, an abortion was not an option for me, and I had to flee my state like a criminal to go receive an abortion out of state."
Dennard is part of a group of women who sued the state, and the case is now pending before the Texas Supreme Court.
Groups like Texas Alliance for Life though say they want to protect unborn children regardless of diagnosis and want to prevent any weakening of exceptions to the state's abortion ban
Dennard said she felt abandoned by the state, and she wants state lawmakers to loosen restrictions.
Republicans who control the Governor's mansion, and both chambers in the state legislature are unlikely to do so.
But Dennard said she is hopeful.
"If we're starting with lifting restrictions for what we call in the medical world as fetal anomalies that's a start. But it's not enough. Roe wasn't even enough. We really need to protect women."
Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning on CBS News Texas on-air and streaming.
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