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Texas hospitals and clinics are hardly islands of liberalism

  Texas hospitals and clinics are hardly islands of liberalism in a red state. Many health-care workers support abortion restrictions, and that leaves some doctors hesitant about what they can say or do in front of their own staff. The ten thousand dollars or more that could come from suing someone for abetment is a powerful incentive, and a complaint to authorities about a doctor could lead to felony charges. Tony Ogburn, an ob-gyn practicing in South Texas, told me that, after arrangements had been made to terminate the pregnancy of a patient who he and other doctors believed was at risk of dying, a nurse who disagreed confronted him, saying “I feel I could sue you if I wanted to.” Shaken by the threat, he made a decision to start meeting with patients privately.