Women Are Twice As Likely to Die in Pregnancy in States with Abortion Bans
4.23.25
Click to skip ahead: Post-Dobbs Deaths has a new report on maternal mortality in anti-abortion states. In the States, news from Georgia, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Texas, and more. Normalizing Extremism reports on the rise—and mainstreaming—of abortion ‘abolitionists’. Billboard Battle looks at new ad campaigns targeting doctors in anti-abortion states, and another going after ‘abortion tourism’. In the Nation, some quick hits. Stats & Studies has the newest data on violence and threats against abortion clinics. And in Legislation Watch, a positive development on Texas’ Trojan Horse legislation.
Post-Dobbs Deaths
Well, no surprise here: A new study from the Gender Equity Policy Institute (GEPI) found that women are twice as likely to die during pregnancy in states with abortion bans. Twice as likely.
Meanwhile, maternal mortality in pro-choice states fell 21%. One stark comparison from the study: Texas’ maternal mortality rate was 155% higher than California’s.
Researchers told The 19th that Texas actually offers a clue as to what’s happening more broadly: Since the state passed an abortion ban, maternal mortality has risen by 56%—with deaths among white women increasing by a whopping 95%. It’s that latter stat that Nancy Cohen, founder of the GEPI, wants us to pay attention to:
“The spike in White maternal mortality in Texas is a canary in the coal mine, because White women typically have far lower rates of maternal mortality. We know from some of the reporting of individual cases in Texas that these are women with insurance, they’re middle class. And what it suggests is the breadth of the potential impact of abortion bans.”
That said, it’s Black women living in banned states who suffer most acutely: They’re over three times more likely to die in pregnancy as their white counterparts.
While death rates skyrocket in states with abortion bans, Republicans are hard at work trying to dismantle maternal mortality committees to hide the impact of their policies—a trend Abortion, Every Day has been tracking closely. If they’re not doing away with committees entirely (Idaho), they’re stacking the groups with anti-abortion extremists (Texas), firing everyone (Georgia), or refusing to collect data for certain years (Texas again).
Read the full report here.
In the States
In related news, OBGYNs in Georgia say that the state’s abortion ban is forcing them to delay life-saving care. A new report released by U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff finds that the law is preventing pregnant patients from receiving critical care, even when there is no chance for a fetus’ survival.
In one case, a woman was forced to have an unnecessary hysterectomy after her water broke too early for her twin fetuses to survive. Instead of being able to give her speedy care, doctors were forced by law to wait until the patient developed an infection. Only then could they legally end her nonviable pregnancy.
Sen. Ossoff’s office conducted the survey—which you can read in full here—with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
Meanwhile, Oklahoma is advancing legislation that would make it a felony to deliver abortion medication into the state. Republicans are calling it an anti-drug trafficking effort, saying it will prevent major carriers from shipping the medication—sort of like a local version of the Comstock Act.
But HB1168 goes further: anyone who ‘delivers’ or even attempts to deliver abortion medication could face 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine—even if the patient never uses the pills
Democratic Sen. Carri Hicks said, “I simply cannot believe that we are continuing to try and create new felonies for substances that are legal, that do provide valid medical relief to individuals here in our state.”
The intent here is clear. Republicans know people are still ending their pregnancies via telehealth and by having abortion medication shipped to them. (Telehealth now accounts for 1 in 5 abortions in the U.S.) Conservative legislators are furious that women are still able to get the care they want and need.
We’ve already seen Louisiana bring criminal charges against a New York abortion provider who shipped abortion pills into the state—I’m sure we’re going to see similar interstate battles pop up if Oklahoma passes this legislation, as well. The bill just passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee; now it will head to the state Senate.
In better news, Wisconsin Democrats have introduced the ‘Abortion Rights Restoration Act’. The bill would repeal a handful of “dangerous and medically unnecessary restrictions” on reproductive healthcare—like an ultrasound requirement, waiting periods and mandates that doctors share false information about abortion, and insurance coverage bans.
What’s more, the legislation would overturn an 1849 law that Republicans say bans abortion. After Roe was overturned, the law—passed before women had the right to vote—kept clinics in the state from providing care. It was later blocked by a judge who ruled that the law was a feticide-only statute. Now the issue is in front of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. For a refresher and background on the case, click here.
With the Wisconsin legislature under Republican control, I don’t think anyone expects this legislation to pass—but it’s vital that Democrats are reminding voters exactly what’s at stake. (And just how radical Republican lawmakers really are.) From state Sen. Kelda Roys:
“There is never a circumstance where politicians are in a better position to make reproductive health care decisions than an individual and their doctor. Every Wisconsinite deserves the freedom to make their own reproductive health decisions, without interference from politicians.”
Well said.
Finally, I told you yesterday that the Texas ‘equal protection’ bill seeking to punish abortion patients as murderers was removed from a committee calendar, unlikely to return. Bill sponsor Rep. Brent Money was not too pleased about that move, complaining on social media that Republicans had granted the bill a hearing only to “yank” it the night before. He later released a statement calling his colleagues’ move “underhanded,” insisting that Republican voters “want equal protection.” (They do not.)
And here’s something else interesting: Up until this week, Rep. Money was the only public author of the legislation. In what appears to be a move to call out his fellow Republicans, the lawmaker published the names of previously-unlisted coauthors. (If you’re in Texas and want to see if your representative signed on to giving abortion patients the death penalty, click here.)
Quick hits:
South Carolina Republicans—with the help of Students for Life—are trying to advance a total abortion ban.
Trump’s Title X funding freeze in Missouri doesn’t just impact Planned Parenthood;
And Aspen Public Radio covers Colorado’s new law covering abortion care for Medicaid recipients.
Normalizing Extremism
Unfortunately, we have a lot to cover on ‘equal protection’ bills tonight—the legislation that would punish abortion patients as murderers, sometimes even with the death penalty.
Since January, a dozen states have considered these bills, with little national attention or outrage. That lack of coverage and conversation is normalization enough, but there’s more: The so-called abortion ‘abolitionists’ crafting these bills—once dismissed as radical outliers—are now part of the mainstream conversation on abortion. In places like Texas and Oklahoma, some are even legislators themselves.
Just this week, The Courier Journal in Kentucky published an op-ed by one such extremist. Let’s be clear: This is the state’s largest and most circulated newspaper, giving a platform to a man who wants to see women executed for abortion.
Anthony Langer with Abolish Abortion Kentucky argues that Kentucky “allows mothers to commit abortion” because there’s no criminal penalty for women who end their pregnancies. He attacks Republicans in the state for not passing HB 523, an equal protection bill introduced in February.
Langer says most legislators didn’t support the bill because “a vicious lie went around claiming it would subject an underage girl who was pregnant by rape to the death penalty.” But don’t worry, he assures us—that couldn’t have happened because the country doesn’t execute minors. Once a girl is 19 years-old, of course, all bets are off:
“How about adult women? Would the bill have subjected them to the death penalty? Only as much as any other murderer.”
Not exactly comforting!
One in four women will have an abortion—would Langer see them all killed? Why was this person given column inches in the state’s most important newspaper? The Courier Journal platformed a man who would see a quarter of American women imprisoned or put to death.
This isn’t just about one extremist, one op-ed, or one state. A column like this sets a precedent—one that says women aren’t people, but political fodder. We can’t let publications, editors, politicians, or anyone else pretend this kind of hatred is just ‘free speech’. The more these kinds of pieces are published, the easier it is for men to argue that our humanity is up for debate.
Contact the Courier Journal here.
Billboard Battle
New Jersey is looking to recruit Texas doctors who may be sick of the state’s abortion ban. The pro-choice state launched a new billboard campaign in Houston and Dallas near major hospitals and medical schools, urging health care providers to move to a state where “you can practice medicine with integrity, free from political interference.”
New Mexico put up similar billboards in Texas last year, telling doctors to “come to New Mexico where you are free to provide.” Michigan has also targeted young professionals in red states, hoping to attract them with its pro-choice policies.
Meanwhile, anti-abortion groups are going a much less pleasant route—putting up billboards near the Texas-New Mexico border urging women who might be going to the pro-choice state for care to “turn around” and telling them that “abortion kills.” (One particularly gross billboard says, “Mommy, be brave and turn around.”)
The anti-abortion organization behind the billboards say it’s part of their campaign to end ‘abortion tourism’. As I’ve noted before, that particular phrase is meant to invoke images of women going on abortion vacations, rather than the truth: That they’re medical refugees fleeing a state that refuses to give them care.
In the Nation
The Guardian speaks to Mary Ziegler about her new book, Personhood, and the rise of abortion ‘abolitionists’;
Reproductive Freedom for All launched a six-figure ad buy, calling out extremist politicians for their attacks on Planned Parenthood and health care access;
Jill Filipovic at Ms. magazine says the Trump administration wants to punish single and child-free women;
And an interview with Oren Jacobson, executive director of Men4Choice.
Stats & Studies
The National Abortion Federation (NAF) just released its 2024 report on violence, harassment, and threats against abortion clinics and providers—and, unfortunately, the results are no surprise.
In the past two years alone, there have been nearly 300 death threats or other threats of harm targeting providers and patients, 12 bomb threats, and almost 800 clinic obstructions. In other words, providers, clinic staff, and volunteers put their safety and lives at risk every day they show up to care for patients.
What’s more, NAF warns that the violence and threats are likely an undercount:
“[W]e know that incidents of violence and disruption are vastly underreported due to a variety of factors, including provider fatigue; staff turnover; and some clinics not having the resources, staff, or capacity to monitor or report protests and incidents, especially as they deal with surges of patients.”
One of the most important things NAF does in this report is include the actual voices of abortion providers and clinic workers. In their Stories Map, you can hear directly from the people most impacted by threats and violence. The clip below is from Calla Hales, Executive Director of A Preferred Women’s Health Center in Charlotte, North Carolina—talking about a bomb threat directed at the clinic.
Just heartbreaking.
And please remember the context for all this: The Trump administration recently gave anti-abortion extremists the green light to do whatever they want to clinics and providers. Donald Trump pardoned two dozen activists convicted of violating the FACE Act—the federal law protecting clinics—while JD Vance told the March for Life that they would “never have the government go after them ever again.”
Trump’s Justice Department also announced that they wouldn’t be enforcing the FACE Act. It’s as if they rolled out the red carpet for domestic terrorists:
The report is hard to read, and the stories are even worse to listen to. But it’s vital that we’re paying attention, bearing witness, and helping when we can. These are the people risking their lives every day to make sure we can get the care we need—it’s the least we can do.
Legislation Watch
It’s rare to get good news out of Texas, so let’s enjoy this: Thanks to the tireless work of abortion rights activists—and to readers here who helped spread the word—the Trojan Horse bill that would have revived a century-old abortion ban has been amended.
If you need a refresher: SB 31 and HB 44 were sailing through the legislature with bipartisan support and glowing headlines—pitched as bills to ‘clarify’ the state’s abortion ban and make it easier for doctors to provide life-saving care. But after Abortion, Every Day reported that the legislation could actually bring back a 1925 abortion ban—opening the door to prosecuting abortion funds, helpers, and possibly even patients—support for the bills collapsed.
What followed was a whole lot of lobbying, fighting, and a plea from the women of Zurawski v Texas for Democrats to withdraw their support. (Especially after it came out that it was actually Texas Right to Life that crafted the legislation!)
This week, all of that work came to a head: The legislation has been changed to say it doesn’t affirm or reject the 100-year-old ban. Kaitlyn Kash, one of the plaintiffs who sued Texas after being denied critical care, told the Houston Chronicle she was “very optimistic” about the changes.
“They will also ensure that pregnant women cannot be prosecuted, and there will be a little bit more additional clarification to allow doctors to act more quickly in a medical emergency under the exceptions. This is a small step towards where we need to be as a state, but we do want to take a moment and thank all of the lawmakers who listened to our stories and who heard our concerns about this bill.”
This is why it’s so important that we’re paying close attention to every single piece of legislation—especially the ones Republicans say will change things for the better. (Because yeah right.)
The new version of the Texas legislation has passed out of a Senate committee; I’ll keep you updated as it advances.
Red states working to hide the rise in maternal mortality since abortion bans were enacted, is right out of the authoritarian playbook.
A woman in Georgia lost the ability to become pregnant after Georgia's law prohibited doctors from providing medically necessary care to end a non viable pregnancy. That's appalling.