“Right to life, your name’s a lie, you don’t care if women die!” The truth of this popular chant is being underlined by a new article by investigative journalism outlet Pro-Publica, “Texas banned abortion. Then sepsis rates soared.”
Women and others who don’t want to be forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, along with their families, advocates and medical professionals, were sounding the alarm in the lead up to the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Banning abortion would mean women will die who could have lived.
There have been previous studies on the post-Dobbs increase in maternal and infant mortality, as well as detailed articles on women who died because they did not receive appropriate care during a miscarriage or following complications from a medication abortion. This latest article lays it out unarguably: Banning abortions in Texas led to a spike in sepsis; the spike in sepsis lead to a spike in women dying.
It is well worth reading the article in its entirety to fully understand the methodology and results. Writers, working with medical experts, studied seven years’ worth of Texas hospital discharge records from 2017-2023, excluding the pandemic shutdown period. What they found was a dramatic increase in sepsis rates and maternal deaths after abortion was banned in Texas. In fact, while the maternal death rate increased in Texas following the state’s ban on abortion, maternal death rates nationally declined.
What is sepsis?
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Sepsis is a serious condition in which the body responds improperly to an infection. The infection-fighting processes turn on the body, causing the organs to work poorly. Sepsis may progress to septic shock. This is a dramatic drop in blood pressure that can damage the lungs, kidneys, liver and other organs.”
Pro-Publica’s research showed that the pregnant women most at risk for sepsis were those admitted to the hospital in the second trimester of pregnancy, experiencing miscarriage. Specifically, they were experiencing PPROM (previable premature rupture of membranes), meaning their waters had broken before the fetus was viable or able to survive outside the womb.
From ProPublica: “The standard of care for miscarrying patients in the second trimester is to offer to empty the uterus, according to leading medical organizations, which can lower the risk of contracting an infection and developing sepsis. If a patient’s water breaks or her cervix opens, that risk rises with every passing hour.”
In Texas, medical professionals face severe penalties for performing abortions with jail time ranging from two to 20 years for a second degree felony and five to 99 years for a first degree felony, as well as financial penalties and loss of licensure.
Tragically, doctors fearing these legal consequences of performing life-saving medical care are now waiting to evacuate the uterus until fetal cardiac activity can no longer be detected, even though the fetus has no chance of surviving. So to draw a clear picture of what the data show: Women miscarrying in their second trimester of pregnancy were admitted to the hospital. Instead of promptly removing the contents of the uterus to prevent sepsis, doctors waited to until “fetal demise” had occurred, when it was too late to save the mother.
What more can be said? How can the anti-abortion movement cling to the moniker “pro-life” in the face of these facts? In Texas, a few lawmakers have said that the law should be amended to make exceptions more clear, but there does not seem to be any urgency in making these changes.
Banning abortion is part of the billionaire’s agenda to reverse the gains of the 1960s and 70s. Anyone really concerned about protecting life would stand up for mothers’ lives as well as the environment, fight for universal healthcare, affordable housing and occupational safety, and against police brutality and the death penalty. Instead, the anti-abortion movement is silent on these issues.
In a capitalist society, working-class reforms like the legalization of abortion can be won — and they can also be rolled back. In a socialist society, this right and many others would be secure.
Abortion is a medical procedure that is an important part of the toolkit for women’s health. Being able to choose when or if to start a family is key to women being able to participate in society as equals. So is staying alive after losing a pregnancy.
