Texas won’t examine maternal deaths after abortion ban

A third woman has died under the Texas abortion ban due to doctors avoiding D&C – or dilation and curettage – procedures and using riskier treatments for miscarriages, as reported by ProPublica. Porsha Ngumezi, a 35-year-old mother, bled excessively and died in the emergency department, with doctors stating her death was preventable.
Physicians raised concerns that abortion bans force doctors to diverge from standard care, potentially increasing risks to patients, according to ProPublica. The Washington Post reports that “The Texas committee that examines all pregnancy-related deaths in the state will not review cases from 2022 and 2023, the first two years after Texas’s near-total abortion ban took effect, leaving any potential deaths related to abortion bans during those years uninvestigated by the 23 doctors, medical professionals and other specialists who make up the group.”