At least 12 women have died because of abortion bans—likely an undercount, with more cases still unnamed or not yet public.
Women are outraged—and they have every reason to be.
- When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, it marked the first time in history that the Court has taken away a fundamental right and opened the door for states to ban abortion outright.
- Texas women in particular have lived under an extreme ban for even longer: In September 2021, Texas’ SB 8 became law, the six-week ban with a “bounty hunter” provision. At the time SB 8 took effect, it was considered the most restrictive abortion ban to ever take effect in the U.S.
- Today, 22 states ban abortion or restrict the procedure earlier in pregnancy than the standard set by Roe v. Wade, and of those, abortion is completely illegal in 13.
Antiabortion lawmakers and judges in these states are failing women and their families, causing preventable deaths and irreparable pain and heartbreak for their families—leaving children without mothers, parents without their daughters, and spouses without their partners.
Ms. is marking these women's stories. This article will be updated to mark every single name made public.
These women should be alive today. And these are likely not the only cases, as there has been a significant increase in maternal mortality rates in states that implement strict abortion bans.
Rest in power. And may their deaths not be in vain.
North Carolina
Ciji Graham
DATE OF DEATH: Nov. 19, 2023
When 34-year-old North Carolina police officer Ciji Graham—newly pregnant—went to a cardiologist on Nov. 14, 2023, with a dangerously fast heart rate, doctors declined to provide standard, lifesaving treatment for her atrial fibrillation and sent her home. Over the next few days, multiple other physicians delayed care, despite expert consensus that cardioversion is safe during pregnancy—a hesitation specialists say is increasingly shaped by gaps in training and fear surrounding abortion restrictions.
As Graham’s symptoms worsened, she scheduled an abortion to end her pregnancy in order to protect her health, but faced delays and barriers in a state with tightened abortion laws and a fragmented medical system. She never made it to her appointment: She died from a cardiac arrhythmia—a death multiple experts told ProPublica was preventable.
“Said she can’t cardiovert being pregnant. ... I can’t feel like this for 9mo. I just can’t."
—Ciji Graham texted her friend while she was at risk of a stroke or heart failure.
“I can’t think of any situation where I would feel comfortable sending anyone home with a heart rate of 192."
—Dr. Jenna Skowronski, a cardiologist at the University of North Carolina
"The doctors ain’t doing nothing.”
—Ciji Graham
Texas
Josseli Barnica
DATE OF DEATH: Sept. 8, 2021
Barnica was a young Texas mother who died after a hospital did not intervene in her miscarriage because of the state’s 2021 abortion ban, SB 8. Providers waited 40 hours until they could no longer detect cardiac activity before providing Barnica with basic medical care.
"They had to wait until there was no heartbeat. It would be a crime to give her an abortion.”
—Barnica’s husband
Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick
DATE OF DEATH: July 10, 2022
"Yeni" Alvarez-Estrada Glick died due to complications related to her high-risk pregnancy.
“We were scheduled to do her baby shower that weekend. But we weren’t having a baby shower. We were having a funeral.”
—Lisa Bozeman, Alvarez-Estrada Glick’s boyfriend’s (Andrew) sister
“She and Andrew were so young, and if given a choice they probably would have thought to themselves, We’ll have so much time together, we can have a child later on.”
—Dolores Favela, one of Yeni’s closest friends
Porsha Ngumezi
DATE OF DEATH: June 11, 2023
Porsha Ngumezi died after experiencing severe complications from a miscarriage at 11 weeks of pregnancy. She was admitted to the emergency department at Houston Methodist Sugar Land, where she suffered significant blood loss and required two transfusions due to hemorrhaging. Despite the critical situation, she did not receive a dilation and curettage (D&C), a procedure that could have stopped the bleeding by removing remaining tissue from her uterus.
Instead, Porsha was given misoprostol, a medication intended to help her body pass the tissue naturally. This approach was taken in part due to the restrictions imposed by Texas' abortion laws, which have led doctors to avoid procedures like D&Cs even when medically necessary.
"I’m thinking, ‘He’s the OB, he’s probably seen this a thousand times, he probably knows what’s right.’ … Since we were at Methodist, I felt I could trust the doctors."
—Hope Ngumezi, Porsha's husband
Nevaeh Crain
DATE OF DEATH: Oct. 29, 2023
Crain, an 18-year-old woman, died after experiencing pregnancy complications. She visited multiple emergency rooms but faced delays in receiving appropriate care.
"Do something."
—Candace Fails, Crain's mother, hours before she died
Tierra Walker
DATE OF DEATH: Dec. 30, 2024
Walker died at 20 weeks pregnant in San Antonio, Texas, after doctors refused termination of her pregnancy despite documented preeclampsia, seizures and hypertension. Her case underscores how even pregnant women with documented life-threatening complications are often not offered abortion care under state bans.
"Walker had known that abortion was illegal in Texas, but she had thought that hospitals could make an exception for patients like her, whose health was at risk," wrote Kavitha Surana and Lizzie Presser. "The reality: In states that ban abortion, patients with chronic conditions and other high-risk pregnancies often have nowhere to turn."
“Wouldn’t you think it would be better for me to not have the baby?”
—Tierra Walker to her doctors
“I’m so sorry. It’s your birthday and it shouldn’t be like this.”
—Tierra Walker to her son, JJ, on the day of her death—also his birthday
“She was doing what they told her to do. Nobody said nothing.”
—Walker's husband Eric Carson couldn’t understand how no one suggested ending the pregnancy to keep her safe.
“They didn’t want to offer to end the pregnancy, because the government or someone says you can’t? So you’d rather let somebody die? Now we are the ones that have to suffer.”
—Walker's aunt, Latanya Walker
Georgia
Amber Nicole Thurman
DATE OF DEATH: Aug. 19, 2022
Thurman's death was deemed "preventable" by the state's maternal mortality review committee after she was unable to access legal abortion and timely medical care.
“Promise me you’ll take care of my son.”
—Thurman’s mother recalling her daughter’s last words
Candi Miller
DATE OF DEATH: Nov. 12, 2022
Miller died at home with her 3-year-old daughter beside her, after her teenage son watched her suffer for days. His mother was afraid to seek the care she needed for fear of prosecution under the ban Georgia had in place.
“She was trying to terminate the pregnancy, not terminate herself.”
—Turiya Tomlin-Randall, Miller’s sister
Indiana
Taysha Wilkinson-Sobieski
DATE OF DEATH: Oct. 12, 2023
Newly married and living in Indiana with her husband and young son, Wilkinson-Sobieski suffered when she could not access timely reproductive healthcare for an ectopic pregnancy.
Across the U.S.
A March 2025 study released in CHEST, an academic journal on pulmonary and respiratory illnesses, reveals at least three more women died between October 2022 and July 2024 as a result of denied or delayed emergency abortion care. Led by researcher Katrina Hauschildt, the research was based on the testimony of 29 doctors cross 15 abortion ban states treating critically ill pregnant patients—all unnamed at this time.
One woman, already a mother of several other children, died during delivery. Another with a congenital heart defect began having symptoms of health issues at 18 weeks and died of respiratory failure at 22 weeks; she was never offered an abortion, even though her doctor admitted in the study that a pregnancy termination "would have prevented [life-threatening disease] progression." Her doctor, also unnamed for privacy, told researchers, "I just remember [her husband] saying: ‘I’m not sure this is what she would have wanted.’” The other died after delayed care of an ectopic pregnancy.
In addition to the deaths (and these are only the ones we know about), physicians reported serious injuries caused by "repeated experiences of restricted and delayed treatment," as well as "moral distress" from navigating pregnant patients' lives and the legal and professional risk of being found guilty of violating these extreme bans.
"We don’t have the full picture of what abortion bans have wrought," wrote Jill Filipivoc. "Instead, what we have are snapshots: Data pulled by intrepid reporters. Women and their families brave enough to speak to the press. Doctors willing to speak anonymously with careful researchers. It’s not a complete picture. But these snapshots still tell a dark story."
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Livia Follet provided research assistance for this article.
