“The temporary restraining order granted by the Travis County district judge purporting to allow an abortion to proceed will not insulate hospitals, doctors or anyone else from civil and criminal liability for violating Texas’ abortion laws,” Paxton said in a statement shortly after the judge’s decision. “This includes first degree felony prosecutions…and civil penalties of not less than $100,000 for each violation.
Paxton added, ominously: “The [judge’s temporary restraining order] will expire long before the statute of limitations for violating Texas’ abortion laws expires.”
Are doctors legally bound by the “do no harm” Hippo-oath or have I watched too many shows and it’s like the “are you a cop, you gotta tell me” lie?
At this point, the only way forward I see is for all doctors banding together to refuse healthcare to any lawmakers, politicians etc that have restricted healthcare to others. Then just wait for one of them to break a leg, get appendicitis, cancer or a mild car crash…
I think you may be looking at this from a non-doctor/healthcare worker perspective. Typically, people go into healthcare because of a desire to help people. Allowing others to suffer - even objectively “evil” people - is antithetical to their being. Not saying that there aren’t doctors who are entirely in it for the money, but I believe those are a minor percentage of the whole.
There is another way forward, and it’s happening already: doctors are leaving places that continue to implement shitty laws. Some out of protest to the laws, some out of fear that they may provide proper care for a patient and be sent to jail for it.