The U.S. Supreme Court has stepped in to block a law that was designed to protect the health of women seeking to end the lives of their babies via abortion in Texas.
In an unsigned order from the court, they supported abortionists and those who advocate the killing of babies via abortion by suspending the October 2nd ruling of an appeals court that said that Texas law could take effect while appeals take place.
The court also put on hold a part of the law that requires doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals for abortionists near the Texas/Mexico border.
“This does not protect the health and safety of women who are undergoing abortion,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life. “”This is definitely a short-term loss, but not necessarily a long- term loss.”
Texas state attorneys say that the law is not a burden on women who want to kill their babies, because nearly 9 in 10 women still live within 150 miles of an abortionist.
A second nurse who treated Thomas Eric Duncan has Ebola.
The Centers for Disease Control says that not only does Amber Vinson, 26, have the virus, but that she also traveled on an airplane Monday just before she reported having symptoms.
Vinson had been monitoring herself after treating Duncan and self-reported a fever Tuesday morning. She was immediately placed into isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.
She is the second of 77 healthcare workers who have been self-monitoring to watch for signs of Ebola.
The CDC says that Vinson lived alone and had no pets. Her home is being sanitized along with all her furniture, bedding and clothing incinerated.
The first nurse to show infection, Nina Pham, worked a different shift than Vinson and the two reportedly had no contact.
Nina Pham, the 26-year-old intensive care unit nurse who has been infected with Ebola, has been given a blood transfusion from Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly.
Officials with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital gave the transfusion to Pham on Monday. A priest in Pham’s congregation told reporters that she was doing better after the transfusion.
“I’m doing well and want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers,” Pham said in a statement released by the hospital. “I am blessed by the support of family and friends.”
CBS Dallas says that one person who had close contact with Pham is now under hospital observation but has not developed any signs of Ebola.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization released a statement saying at the current spread of infection, it’s possible to have 10,000 new cases a week starting in December.
A nurse who treated the Liberian who arrived in Texas infected with Ebola has been confirmed to be infected with the virus.
“A health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who provided care for the Ebola patient hospitalized there has tested positive for Ebola in a preliminary test at the state public health laboratory in Austin,” reads a statement issued Sunday morning by the Texas Department of State Health Services. “Confirmatory testing will be conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.”
The head of state health services said he was not surprised to see someone else become infected with the virus.
“We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility,” said Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services. “We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread.”
The CDC was quick to claim the infection had to be a mistake on the part of the nurse, despite having no evidence to back up that claim.
A Dallas County Sheriff’s Deputy who was exhibiting signs of Ebola has been taken into isolation at a Dallas area hospital.
The deputy began to show signs of illness Wednesday morning and went to an urgent care center in Frisco, Texas. The patient said while he didn’t have direct contact with the now-deceased Thomas Eric Duncan, he was in the apartment and had contact with the family and possessions of the “Ebola patient zero.”
The patient has been identified as Sgt. Michael Monnig. He had been monitoring his temperature for the last week as a precaution and went to seek medical help when he had a fever, stomach pain and fatigue.
“We don’t want to cause a panic,” Logan Monnig told The Dallas Morning News. “There is almost no chance my dad would have Ebola. He spent very little time in the apartment, and he did not come in contact with Mr. Duncan or any bodily fluids.”
Doctors say Monnig is a “low risk” Ebola case and that it’s unlikely he or anyone else could have been infected from his visit to the urgent care center.
The Liberian man who fell ill with Ebola while in the Dallas area is dead.
Thomas Eric Duncan died Wednesday morning at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. He had been in critical condition for days and rumors had been rampant for days that Duncan was on the verge of death.
Duncan’s family is still in isolation and is being monitored by health officials for any Ebola symptoms. Several others who had close contact with Duncan have been taken to a secret secured location. The Centers for Disease Control says no one has shown signs of Ebola.
The family confirmed that they had received confirmation of Duncan’s death.
CNN is reporting that airports within the United States are now going to take temperatures of passengers arriving from countries with Ebola infections.
The director of the CDC says that new travel guidelines are being developed for Americans.
A Federal appeals court has upheld a Texas law that will close many of the state’s abortion facilities.
A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reversed the decision of Judge Lee Yeakel, the second time his rulings to keep abortion clinics from having to meet cleanliness standards for surgical centers had been overturned by the appeals court.
“Without any evidence on these points, plaintiffs do not appear to have met their burden to show that the ambulatory surgical center provision will result in insufficient clinic capacity that will impose an undue burden on a large fraction of women,” the appeals court ruled.
While those standing for the lives of unborn children were pleased with the ruling, they were disappointed that abortions will still continue in the state.
“The reality is that elective abortions will continue to remain readily available in Texas; that’s not our preference, but that’s the reality,” Joe Pojman, executive director of the Alliance for Life, told reporters. “Because there are seven very large ambulatory surgical centers that provide abortion in the major metropolitan cities women will still have ready access to elective abortions.”
Concerns about the health care system in Dallas is coming into question following reports that the confirmed Ebola patient was sent home initially from the hospital and was seen throwing up outside all over a common area of the apartment complex where he had been staying.
“His whole family was screaming. He got outside and he was throwing up all over the place,” resident Mesud Osmanovic, 21, said on Wednesday to Reuters.
The man, who has been identified by a family friend as Thomas Eric Duncan, reportedly helped transport a pregnant woman who suffered from Ebola to a hospital in Liberia before boarding a flight to the United States. The woman was turned away from the hospital due to lack of space and Duncan transported her back to the family home where she died.
Texas health officials initially said 18 people had contact with the man but now reports say as many as 80 are under observation because of possible contact.
Hospital officials admitted when the man first came into a hospital on Thursday and was then sent home with antibiotics he had told a nurse that he had traveled to West Africa.
“Regretfully, that information was not fully communicated throughout the full teams. As a result, the full import of that information wasn’t factored into the full decision making,” Texas hospital official Mark Lester said.
The situation the President described as “unlikely” and officials at the CDC doubted would happen has come true.
The first American case of Ebola has been confirmed.
“We received in our laboratory today specimens from the individual, tested them and they tested positive for Ebola,” Dr. Tom Frieden of the CDC said. “The State of Texas also operates a laboratory that found the same results.”
The Centers for Disease Control has confirmed that a Liberian man who came to the United States to visit relatives tested positive for the virus. He arrived in the U.S. on September 20th but did not show symptoms until four days later. He went to a hospital on Friday and was admitted on Sunday.
Dr. Frieden said that he is certain there will be no major outbreak.
“It does not spread from someone who doesn’t have fever and other symptoms,” Frieden outlined. “So, it’s only someone who is sick with Ebola who can spread the disease. I have no doubt that we will control or contain this case of Ebola so it does not spread throughout the country.”
A group of Texas family planning clinics has announced they are severing all ties with the nation’s largest abortion provider.
The group previously known as “Planned Parenthood Assocation of Hidalgo County” has changed their name to “Access Esperanza Clinics” and said the move was done to obtain funding for services.
“Changing our name and affiliation allows our agency to apply for state health programs and make low-cost services more available for thousands of our low-income women, men and teens,” Patricio C. Gonzales, CEO of Access Esperanza, said in a web letter. “We hope to be approved for the state’s Texas Women’s Health Program services by October 2014 and plan to apply for other programs to expand our range of primary care services.”
Planned Parenthood acknowledged they had been cut out of the group.
Access Esperanza does not list abortion as one of the procedures they offer to the public.
The funding to the group had been curtailed because of Senate Bill 7 passed in 2011. The bill revoked government funding of Planned Parenthood affiliated groups.
