1/ For ProPublica’s “Life of the Mother” series, winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for public service, we reported on five pregnant women who died after not receiving timely medical care in states with strict abortion bans.
These are their stories 🧵
2/ Amber Thurman went to the hospital with telltale signs of sepsis, yet it took 20 hours for doctors to intervene with a D&C procedure after abortion became a felony in Georgia.
Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable.
At least two women in Georgia died after they couldn’t access legal abortions and timely medical care in their state, ProPublica has found. This is one of their stories.
3/ Doctors warned Candi Miller that another pregnancy could kill her. Under Georgia’s abortion ban, she died trying to navigate the process alone.
“She was trying to terminate the pregnancy, not terminate herself,” Miller’s sister said.
Afraid to Seek Care Amid Georgia’s Abortion Ban, She Stayed at Home and Died
Candi Miller’s family said she didn't visit a doctor “due to the current legislation on pregnancies and abortions.” Maternal health experts deemed her death preventable and blamed Georgia’s abortion b...
4/ In Texas, Josseli Barnica’s husband says a hospital told her that it would be a “crime” to help manage her miscarriage.
Days later, she died from an infection that developed after she waited 40 hours for treatment.
A Woman Died After Being Told It Would Be a “Crime” to Intervene in Her Miscarriage at a Texas Hospital
Josseli Barnica is one of at least two pregnant Texas women who died after doctors delayed emergency care. She’d told her husband that the medical team said it couldn’t act until the fetal heartbeat s...
5/ 18-year-old Nevaeh Crain visited 2 Texas emergency rooms in 12 hours, returning home each time worse than before.
On her third trip, a doctor still insisted on 2 ultrasounds to “confirm fetal demise” before moving her to intensive care.
A Pregnant Teenager Died After Trying to Get Care in Three Visits to Texas Emergency Rooms
It took three ER visits and 20 hours before a hospital admitted Nevaeh Crain, 18, as her condition worsened. Doctors insisted on two ultrasounds to confirm “fetal demise.” She’s one of at least two Te...
6/ Porsha Ngumezi needed a D&C procedure, but under Texas’ abortion ban, the doctor recommended a riskier course of action. Her case raises serious questions about how abortion bans pressure doctors to diverge from the standard of care.
A Third Woman Died Under Texas’ Abortion Ban. Doctors Are Avoiding D&Cs and Reaching for Riskier Miscarriage Treatments.
Thirty-five-year-old Porsha Ngumezi’s case raises questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to avoid standard care even in straightforward miscarriages.
7/ Our investigations illuminated the profound human cost of these policies. They exposed the chilling impact on medical professionals forced to choose between their oath and the law, the anguish faced by families and the broader erosion of women’s health and autonomy.
8/ “The Year After a Denied Abortion" also documented the unraveling of a Tennessee family after a denied abortion for a life-threatening pregnancy.
This photo essay helped audiences see, feel and understand how decisions made by those in power impact families.
She Was Denied an Abortion After Roe Fell. This Is a Year in Her Family’s Life.
Tennessee law prohibits women from having abortions in nearly all circumstances. But once the babies are here, the state provides little help. We followed one family as they struggled to make it.
9/ These stories ignited outrage around the country and became talking points during the presidential election.
In response to our reporting, lawmakers filed more than a dozen bills to expand abortion access in at least seven states.
Lawmakers in at Least Seven States Seek Expanded Abortion Access
Some of the bills were filed in direct response to ProPublica’s reporting on the fatal consequences of abortion bans.
10/ Last week, Texas passed Senate Bill 31, which aims to prevent maternal deaths under the state’s strict abortion ban by making clear that a life-threatening medical emergency doesn’t need to be imminent for doctors to intervene to terminate pregnancies.
Texas Senate Approves Legislation to Clarify Exceptions to Abortion Ban
Following ProPublica’s reporting, Republicans acknowledged women were denied care because medical providers were unsure what Texas’ abortion ban allowed. But the new legislation doesn’t remove what do...
11/ The bill represents a significant reversal for Republican leaders who had for years insisted no changes were needed. It was written by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, the author of the original ban who initially said that exceptions for medical emergencies were “plenty clear.”
12/ Read the full “Life of the Mother” series:
Life of the Mother
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, doctors warned that women would die, but lawmakers who passed state abortion bans didn’t listen. The worst consequences are now becoming clear.
Every legislator who voted for these strict abortion laws sb arrested and held for trial. .
Horrific. Things cannot go on like this.
Prosecute!
Absolutely Heartbreaking 💔
Absolute EVIL!
Sick, third world cave care only for women. TEXAS is cesspool.
When will a doctor stand up for their patient?
Seems the motto has become: Do no harm, to your paycheck.
Cowards
Whatever happened to do no harm, not do NOTHING! You cowards! You murderers!
This is manslaughter
The United States of Idiots is at war with itself.
Doctors are violating their oaths.
People are wrongly giving them a pass with the excuse that they're afraid.
Let's put it this way, they're willing to kill women because they're afraid of far right threats.
They need to not only be sued into oblivion but lose their licenses.
💔
Horrible
So she was murdered by negligence?
Do not visit or live in Texas.
