Another woman, Porsha Ngumezi, died of a miscarriage in Texas. Abortion bans are deadly b/c pregnancy is too complicated to legislate. Please read the full story. Some thoughts below on why ambiguities in the law, coupled with exorbitant penalties, will continue to chill miscarriage care. - ThreadSky

greerdonley.bsky.social • 94 days ago

Another woman, Porsha Ngumezi, died of a miscarriage in Texas. Abortion bans are deadly b/c pregnancy is too complicated to legislate. Please read the full story. Some thoughts below on why ambiguities in the law, coupled with exorbitant penalties, will continue to chill miscarriage care.

Reposted from ProPublica

NEW: Porsha Ngumezi is the fifth case we've reported on in which a woman died after not receiving a D&C or its second-trimester equivalent in time, or at all.

Her case raises questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to avoid standard care even in straightforward miscarriages.

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drclareharris.bsky.social•94 days ago

This angers and saddens me immensely.

And what did Texas do?

They got rid of the board that reviews these deaths.

They don’t want people to know.

Say their names! 😢💕

greerdonley.bsky.social•94 days ago

The main response antiabortion folks have to stories like this is: "The law doesn't apply to miscarriage!" That is partly true. Texas and most states exclude "the removal of a dead fetus" from the definition of abortion. But this exclusion has utterly failed to protect miscarriage care. Here's why:

greerdonley.bsky.social•94 days ago

Diagnosing fetal death is hard, esp before cardiac activity has been documented. In my Abortion Disorientation paper, I explain why that is--basically, it's hard to know if someone is misdating the pregnancy or miscarrying. Some recommend 2 ultrasounds over 10-14 days to prove death.

greerdonley.bsky.social•94 days ago

If it's possible the person misdated their pregnancy & the fetus is not dead, then the miscarriage exclusion might not apply. You can see this at issue for Porsha. Then the question becomes if there is an exception to the ban b/c the pregnancy is life threatening (Texas has no health exception).

greerdonley.bsky.social•94 days ago

70% of providers don't know how to evaluate when a pregnancy passes the threshold into "life-threatening," given that all pregnancies are life-threatening (maternal mortality is measured for a reason). A threat to life does not always happen gradually; it can be sudden and unpredictable.

greerdonley.bsky.social•94 days ago

The antiabortion movement wants us to blame the doctors--and sometimes that is warranted--but abortion bans are the ultimate cause of this harm. When life in prison is the penalty for violating a ban, doctors will understandably be risk averse. And that chill in care will cause deaths.

rebekahwriter.bsky.social•94 days ago

Deaths, or loss of fertility. It’s astonishing how callous these laws are, and yet I’m not astonished.

greerdonley.bsky.social•94 days ago

This is just one example of an ambiguity harming reproductive healthcare. If you want to read more on this topic, check out my Abortion Disorientation paper, hot off the press from Duke Law Journal, here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4729217

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