Texas Supreme Court denies woman damages after failed sterilization led to pregnancy

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled against an El Paso woman who sued her doctor for failing to perform a sterilization procedure she paid for, finding that she is not entitled to damages for emotional distress, physical pain or the costs of raising the child who resulted from her unintended pregnancy.

The 21-page opinion sets the precedent that a mother cannot be compensated for emotional and physical pain when medical negligence causes an unplanned pregnancy and a healthy birth, which distinguishes such cases from other medical negligence claims.

The woman, who sought a tubal ligation during her third birth by cesarean section, now has an 8-year-old daughter.

"Texas law does not regard a healthy child as an injury for which a parent must be compensated but, rather, as a life with inherent dignity and profound, immeasurable value," Rebeca Huddle, one of nine Republican justices on the state's highest civil court, wrote in the opinion.

The 21-page opinion reverses a state appellate court's finding that a wrongful pregnancy would entitle Grissel Velasco, a mother of four, to damages for emotional anguish. The Supreme Court ruling aligns with previous appellate court decisions that found parents are not entitled to compensation for the cost of raising a child born from an unplanned pregnancy, the opinion notes.

The Supreme Court found that the mother in this case could only recover damages for costs directly caused by the negligence that were incurred during the pregnancy, delivery and postpartum period. Velasco did not provide evidence of such costs, Huddle wrote.

Velasco's lawyer, Joe P. Lopez IV, said the court's decision deals a blow to reproductive rights in Texas.

"If every child was a blessing, there wouldn’t be tens of millions of people practicing birth control every day," Lopez told the American-Statesman in an email. "It is a sad day in Texas for women and their reproductive rights, specifically, the right not to have children, or not to have any more children."

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Doctor failed to disclose not performing tubal ligation procedure, lawsuit says

Velasco sued Dr. Michiel R. Noe and his practice for failing to complete a tubal ligation that she paid for in advance of her third birth by cesarean section in 2014 and neglecting to tell her that he had not done so.

Velasco became pregnant in 2015, one year after she believed she had been sterilized, and gave birth to a daughter who is now 8 years old. Sterilization after a C-section birth is a common request from mothers who do not want to undergo another major surgery, and it reduces the risk of complications, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Noe's practice, Sun City Women's Health Care, refunded Velasco the $400 she paid for the tubal ligation after she told them that she was pregnant. Velasco had paid for the procedure out of pocket because the federally funded Children's Health Insurance Program, which she used during her pregnancy, does not cover sterilization procedures.

Velasco argued in the lawsuit that she was the victim of medical negligence, fraud, medical battery, deceptive trade practices and other claims, and she sought damages for physical pain, mental anguish and the costs of "maintaining, supporting, and educating her fourth child."

After learning she was pregnant a fourth time, Velasco became "sad, depressed, anxious, angry (and) suicidal," and she experienced fits of panic and loss of sleep, she wrote in an affidavit.

"When I found out that I was pregnant because Dr. Noe had not done the tubal ligation and had not told me that he had not done the tubal ligation, I ... felt sick, felt weight on my chest, and felt that a lot of new responsibility, financial and personal, had been placed on my shoulders," she wrote.

Texas' 8th Court of Appeals found in April 2022 that Velasco provided evidence proving Noe breached his duty. The court also found that if medical negligence were proved in trial, Velasco would be entitled to mental anguish damages, but it dismissed the mother's claims of fraud, battery and deceptive trade practices.

Noe's attorneys then appealed that ruling to the Texas Supreme Court.

Diana Faust and Michelle Robberson of Cooper Scully, attorneys for Noe, did not immediately respond to American-Statesman requests for comment Friday.

The full Supreme Court of Texas opinion in Noe v. Velasco is below.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Supreme Court denies woman damages for failed sterilization