Pregnancy Deaths Rose 56% in Texas Under Abortion Ban

Maternal mortality rates have risen across the nation—at an 11% clip from 2019 to 2022, CDC data show. In Texas, the number of women who died while pregnant, during labor, or soon after childbirth jumped 56%, NBC News reports. The state instituted a ban on abortion care in 2021. “There’s only one explanation for this staggering difference in maternal mortality,” said Nancy L. Cohen, president of the Gender Equity Policy Institute, which based its analysis on CDC data. “All the research points to Texas’ abortion ban as the primary driver of this alarming increase.”

In September 2021, almost a year before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Texas prohibited abortion care as early as five weeks into pregnancy. The only exception is to save the life of the mother. Within a year, researchers found, maternal mortality across all racial groups studied rose. For white women, the rate almost doubled, from 20 per 100,000 live births to 39.1. For Black women, it increased from 31.6 to 43.6. Data suggests that women living in states with restrictive abortion laws are far more likely to go without prenatal care and less likely to make an appointment with an OB-GYN.

An OB-GYN in Austin who was not involved in the study said patients living under such laws are afraid. “Fear is something I’d never seen in practice prior to” the state ban, said Dr. Leah Tatum.

• Fear played a role in Candi Miller’s death in Georgia, ProPublica reports. Her story can be found here.
• Amber Thurman’s death in Georgia also was preventable, a state panel found. Her story can be found here.

(More Texas abortion law stories.)