Quote:Three years later, it’s horrifyingly obvious the Texas legislature went too far. Way too far. In their zeal to stop abortions, the Republican-controlled legislature seems to have forgotten about the mothers. Women in the state have been refused treatment, some even dying since a total abortion ban became law.

So now, it is ironic to say the least to hear legislators — Republicans — admit that their total abortion ban needs “clarification.” Two staunch anti-abortion legislators have put forth a bill to clarify when a doctor can perform an abortion.

Quote:Geren may have friends who have been affected by the ban, but because of great investigative work by ProPublica, we now have more than anecdotal evidence. In an article titled “Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did,” the independent media organization looked at seven years of data to determine how the ban has affected maternal health in Texas. The news isn’t good.

The state does have a maternal mortality review committee, but to date it has failed to do its job. There has been no examination of death rates since the ban went into effect.

ProPublica found that, since the ban, incidence of sepsis has increased by more than 50% for women who had second-trimester miscarriages. In these cases, the standard of care is to evacuate the uterus. If doctors have to wait for the fetal heartbeat to stop, the woman is often exposed to deadly bacteria.

ProPublica also counted 120 deaths of hospitalized pregnant women, a massive increase. One of those women was Josseli Barnica, a 28-year-old mother who had a miscarriage at 17 weeks pregnant. Doctors told her she couldn’t get treatment until they could no longer detect a fetal heartbeat. So they waited. She died of sepsis. More than a dozen medical experts who reviewed her case told ProPublica Barnica’s death was preventable.

(Apr 4 2025, 8:09 PM)AndreaCook I'm going to the maternal mortality review committee meeting in June.  There is time at the end of the meeting for members of the public to comment.  I've been practicing my speech, but I've only got 3 minutes to speak, not nearly enough time to say everything I want to say.  Public speaking is nerve wracking for me.

(Apr 4 2025, 8:09 PM)AndreaCook I'm going to the maternal mortality review committee meeting in June.  There is time at the end of the meeting for members of the public to comment.  I've been practicing my speech, but I've only got 3 minutes to speak, not nearly enough time to say everything I want to say.  Public speaking is nerve wracking for me.

(Apr 4 2025, 8:09 PM)AndreaCook I'm going to the maternal mortality review committee meeting in June.  There is time at the end of the meeting for members of the public to comment.  I've been practicing my speech, but I've only got 3 minutes to speak, not nearly enough time to say everything I want to say.  Public speaking is nerve wracking for me.