ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.

    • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      When one of the most obviously predictable outcomes of Texas abortion laws shows up in statistics, I too immediately wonder if the real reason is a statewide conspiracy among Doctors.

    • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      It’s actually a rise in sepsis deaths.

      “The new reporting shows that, after the state banned abortion, dozens more pregnant and postpartum women died in Texas hospitals than had in pre-pandemic years, which ProPublica used as a baseline to avoid COVID-19-related distortions. As the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally, ProPublica found, it rose substantially in Texas.”

      Doctors aren’t faking a sepsis diagnosis. Rather, they’re waiting until they can prove the fetus is dead or she’s actually dying.

      "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.

      Sepsis can lead to permanent kidney failure, brain damage and dangerous blood clotting. Nationally, it is one of the leading causes of deaths in hospitals.

      While some Texas doctors have told ProPublica they regularly offer to empty the uterus in these cases, others say their hospitals don’t allow them to do so until the fetal heartbeat stops or they can document a life-threatening complication."