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, 21 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.
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
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.
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Livia Follet provided research assistance for this article.
