Before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, Texas had already effectively ended legal abortion in the state with the Texas Heartbeat Act (SB8). That law went into effect on September 1, 2021. At that time the law was one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the United States.
When the law went into effect, reproductive health clinics across the state shuttered. And Texans who sought abortion freedom needed to travel out of state to access needed, sometimes lifesaving, health care.
For the anti-abortion forces, who believe the deliberate and intentional ending of a pregnancy is morally wrong, SB8 and then the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision were victories. They want to “save the babies.”
But what they don’t want to recognize is that the Texas abortion ban is hurting many women who want to carry their pregnancies to term. However, because of a miscarriage or another pregnancy complication these women are frequently being denied medical procedures that could save their lives. That needed procedure is an abortion— although not an abortion to terminate a pregnancy, because that pregnancy is already over. The pregnancy failed. But this would be an abortion to save the mother’s life. And because it’s being denied, because of a Texas law, women are unnecessarily dying.
The nonprofit newsroom ProPublica has been investigating and documenting these cases. So far, they have uncovered three cases in Texas.
The most recent report tells the story of 35-year-old Porsha Ngumezi.
Kavitha Surana is a reporter with ProPublica. Her latest story is “A Third Woman Died Under Texas’ Abortion Ban. Doctors Are Avoiding D&Cs and Reaching for Riskier Miscarriage Treatments.”
Ignore 2022 and 2023
In that interview Kavitha Surana mentioned the work of the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Committee. This is a state-run initiative tasked with investigating and addressing maternal deaths and severe maternal complications (morbidity) in Texas.
Its primary purpose is to improve the health and safety of mothers during and after pregnancy.
It reviews cases of pregnancies that result in the death of the mother which happens at an alarming rate in Texas. The committee is supposed to find out contributing factors and recommend policy changes to improve outcomes.
Texas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the United States and it makes sense to find out what’s going wrong.
But recently the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Committee announced it will not review cases from 2022 and 2023— the first two years after Texas’ near-total abortion ban took effect,
This is leaving any potential deaths related to abortion bans during those years uninvestigated.
There is no direct evidence that this skipping over of two critical years of cases is politically motivated, but if it is, then it wouldn’t be the first time that it appeared that politics were pulling the strings with the committee.
In September 2022, just three months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and two months before the midterm that would pit Gov. Greg Abbott against Beto O'Rourke, the state of Texas decided to delay publication of a report on pregnancy-related deaths.
Caroline Kitchener is the National abortion reporter for The Washington Post.
Her story is -- Texas committee won’t examine maternal deaths in first years after abortion ban.
OB-GYN’s Flee Texas
The Texas stringent abortion prohibition has motivated OB-GYNs to flee the state. There was already a shortage of these caregivers in Texas particularly in remote and low-income areas. And these are doctors that do a lot more than provide abortions.
OB-GYNs provide essential care for women during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. If OB-GYNs are scarce, access to prenatal care, safe deliveries, and postpartum monitoring can become limited. This can result in higher rates of maternal mortality, infant mortality, and complications during childbirth, which may have long-term health impacts on both mothers and babies.
OB-GYNs are also the primary healthcare providers for women with specific reproductive health needs, such as family planning, fertility issues, menopause management, and gynecological conditions.
Without sufficient OB-GYNs, women may face long wait times, delayed care, or may be forced to seek care from general practitioners or other specialists who are not as well-equipped to handle these complex issues.
OB-GYNs are essential for preventive care in women’s health, such as cervical cancer screenings, breast exams, and family planning counseling. A shortage could lead to missed opportunities for early detection and prevention, contributing to worsened health outcomes in the long run.
In “The Texas Exodus,” New Yorker reporter Stephania Taladrid reports on ob-gyns are leaving the state, and details how one residency program that brought hope to the Rio Grande Valley shut down last summer.
