TEXAS, USA — A new analysis by ProPublica shows that after Texas’ 2021 abortion ban went into effect, pregnancy became far more dangerous – partially due to the danger of developing sepsis, a life-threatening condition.
Since 2021, when the “Texas Heartbeat Act” went into effect, ProPublica found that the rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost their pregnancies in the second trimester. The surge was most pronounced for patients whose fetus may still have had a heartbeat when they arrived at the hospital.
Last year, ProPublica reported on two cases where miscarrying Texas women – Josseli Barnica and Neveah Crain – died of sepsis after doctors delayed evacuating their uteruses because doing so would have been considered an abortion.
ProPublica’s new analysis shows that after Texas banned abortion, dozens more pregnant and postpartum women died in hospitals across the state than had in pre-pandemic years, which the news organization used as a baseline to “avoid COVID-19-related distortions.”
ProPublica found that as the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally, it rose substantially in Texas.
To chart pregnancy-related sepsis infections, ProPublica purchased and analyzed seven years of Texas’ hospital discharge data. Reporters found that when abortion was legal in Texas, the rate of sepsis for women hospitalized for second-trimester pregnancy loss was relatively steady. But after the abortion ban went into effect, the rate of sepsis spiked.
ProPublica found that in 2021, 67 patients who lost a pregnancy during their second trimester were diagnosed with sepsis. As in previous years, those patients accounted for 3% of hospitalizations.
In 2022, that number jumped to 90. In 2023, it increased to 99.
Dozens of maternal health experts reviewed ProPublica’s findings, saying they add to the evidence that “the state’s abortion ban is leading to dangerous delays in care,” with many saying the ban is the only explanation they could see for the sudden jump in sepsis cases.
ProPublica also looked at the broader spike in maternal mortality in Texas, zooming out beyond the second trimester to look at the deaths of all patients hospitalized in Texas while pregnant or up to six weeks postpartum.
The analysis found that deaths peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, and most patients who died then were diagnosed with the virus. But looking at 2018 and 2019, prior to the pandemic, and the two most recent years of data, 2022 and 2023, ProPublica said it noticed a clear shift.
In 2018 and 2019, there were 79 maternal hospital deaths. In 2022 and 2023, there were 120.
ProPublica noted that the state of Texas “has no plans to scrutinize those deaths.” In December, Dr. Carla Ortique, the chair of the state’s Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee, said the group is skipping data from 2022 and 2023 and picking up its analysis with 2024 to get a more “contemporary” view of deaths in Texas.
“I would like to reassure the public that there was absolutely no nefarious intent nor desire to miss an opportunity to identify impacts from recent legislative changes pertaining to abortion on maternal health outcomes in our state,” Ortique said at the time.
For more on ProPublica’s in-depth, first-of-its-kind analysis, click here.