SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Idaho law allows a doctor to act only when, in a doctor’s judgment, a pregnant woman faces a “non-negligible” risk of dying sooner without an abortion. It does not protect her from harm, suffering, or permanent damage to her body. The legality of that decision can be challenged after the fact, placing the question of whether her abortion was “legal” in the hands of lawyers rather than in the hands of the law.

1. 1. The law protects a woman from death. Not from harm, not from suffering.

   Idaho Code § 18-622(2)(a) permits an abortion only when, in a physician’s good-faith judgment, it is “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” Harm that does not place her life at risk—including injury, infertility, suffering, or permanent damage—is not enough on its own.

   Adkins showed what that means in practice. The court described previable PPROM—when the water breaks before the fetus is viable—as a condition that, if not treated with abortion care, can allow an infection to progress to sepsis and require a hysterectomy (¶ 20). The court held that Idaho’s exception does not protect a woman’s future fertility when her life is not also threatened (Conclusion of Law 50).

   • Idaho Code § 18-622
   • Adkins Findings of Fact ¶ 20, Conclusion of Law 50 (Apr. 11, 2025)

2. 2. Even suicide risk is explicitly written out of the law.

   The statute names suicide risk and explicitly denies it as a legal basis for an abortion. It is clear about what it excludes, but leaves the boundaries of its protection vague—so that the protections it offers can be questioned in court later.

   “No abortion shall be deemed necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman because the physician believes that the woman may or will take action to harm herself.”

   • Idaho Code § 18-622(2)(a)(i)–(ii)

3. 3. The rape and incest exception is narrow—and tied to a 13-week deadline.

   The exception applies only if all three conditions are met:

   1. The abortion occurs during the first trimester—the first 13 weeks of pregnancy.
   2. The woman—or, if she is a minor, her parent or guardian—has reported the rape or incest to law enforcement or child protective services.
   3. The physician has received a copy of that report before the abortion.

   “Prior to the performance of the abortion, the woman has reported to a law enforcement agency that she is the victim of an act of rape or incest and provided a copy of such report to the physician who is to perform the abortion.”

   Miss any one condition, and the exception is gone. Women often do not know they are pregnant by week 13. A victim who discovers the pregnancy after the deadline has no exception. Neither does a survivor who is unable or unwilling to report the assault to authorities.

   • Idaho Code § 18-622(2)(b)
   • Idaho Code § 18-604(6) — first trimester defined as 13 weeks
   • Watson & Angelotta, “The frequency of pregnancy recognition across the gestational spectrum” (2022)

4. 4. There is no separate exception for fatal fetal anomalies.

   If a baby has a condition that it cannot survive—like anencephaly—Idaho law requires the mother to carry the pregnancy and go through delivery, then bury that child. The fetal diagnosis itself is not an exception; Idaho’s life exception applies only if the condition also puts her own life at risk.

   Adkins documented exactly this. The court described a patient who might need a cesarean “to deliver the fetus that will not survive” (¶ 19).

   “These complications include the mental-health risks associated with appearing to the world to have a viable pregnancy while knowing otherwise.”

   Neither circumstance creates a separate exception under Idaho law.

   • Adkins Findings of Fact ¶¶ 18–19

5. 5. A federal judge recognized a constitutional right to a health-preserving abortion—but the protection is currently stayed.

   On August 13, 2026, a federal judge held that the Constitution protects a health-preserving abortion. The ruling covered abortions needed to prevent death, serious long-term health impairment, and self-harm.

   On August 25, citing the Supreme Court’s Trump v. CASA decision, the judge narrowed the injunction—not the constitutional holding—to Dr. Stacy Seyb, the doctor who sued. On September 3, the Ninth Circuit temporarily stayed even that limited injunction while the state appeals. Idaho therefore has no settled, generally applicable federal protection for health-preserving abortion.

   “The Court thus holds that the right to a health-preserving abortion is one of the liberties guaranteed by the Due Process Clause.”

   • Seyb Order, Aug. 13, 2026 (Dkt. 147)
   • Seyb Order, Aug. 25, 2026 (Dkt. 156)
   • Ninth Circuit stay, Sept. 3, 2026
   • Seyb docket — No. 1:24-cv-00244-BLW (govinfo)

6. 6. Even the LDS Church’s own standard is broader than the laws it gave $1 million to defend.

   The Church’s official statement sets out three possible exceptions:

   “The Church allows for possible exceptions for its members when:”

   • Pregnancy results from rape or incest, or
   • A competent physician determines that the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy, or
   • A competent physician determines that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth.

   Idaho’s rape and incest exception is narrower: first trimester only, with a required report before the abortion. Its statute does not separately protect serious threats to a woman’s health or lethal fetal diagnoses unless her life is also at risk. The Church’s own official standard is broader than the laws it paid $1 million to help preserve.

   • LDS Church Newsroom — “Abortion” (official statement)
   • $1M donation announced by Tom Luna, Oct. 9, 2026 — confirmed by church officials (Boise State Public Radio)
   • KMVT — LDS Church donates $1 million to fight Idaho’s Proposition 1

“A woman can lose the ability to ever have children, with no legal way to prevent it, as long as she doesn’t die first.”— Adkins ¶ 20 and Conclusion of Law 50

Abortion bans and related restrictions have measurable costs. They make pregnancy-related care harder to reach, emergency care riskier, and the burden more unequal. Some national mortality estimates remain uncertain—but the record already shows higher infant deaths among Black infants, more severe pregnancy-loss complications in Texas, longer travel for care, and Idaho’s loss of one in three obstetricians.

Peer-reviewed studies and published analyses, verified as of October 2026.

The fourteen documented stories below—nine women who died and five who survived—show what restrictive abortion laws can mean in a real emergency: delayed care, denied treatment, long transfers, and disappearing local obstetric capacity. They are not a complete count; they are the cases the public record can name. In ban states, clinicians and hospitals can face criminal prosecution, licensing consequences, or professional discipline while federal EMTALA duties may require hospitals to stabilize or transfer patients. That legal conflict creates an environment of fear and uncertainty that drives these mistakes to occur. The cost of this legal uncertainty is human lives and human suffering.

1. Josseli Barnica, 28Houston, TX · Sep 8, 2021 · PassedA young mother who longed for a large family. At 17 weeks, she was miscarrying; care was delayed for 40 hours while clinicians waited for fetal cardiac activity to stop.
   Josseli Barnica, 28

   Houston, TX · Sep 8, 2021 · Passed

   At 17 weeks, Josseli was miscarrying. Care was delayed for 40 hours; three days after delivering, she died of sepsis with retained products of conception.

   Josseli and her husband were already raising a daughter, born in 2020. She wanted a large family and was thrilled to be pregnant again. She had come to the United States from Honduras, worked installing drywall, and saved money to support her mother back home.

   On Sept. 3, 2021, at 17 weeks and four days, an ultrasound found the fetal head in her open cervix and described the miscarriage as “in progress.” Texas’ SB 8 had just taken effect. It required physicians to confirm the absence of fetal cardiac activity before intervening unless they documented a “medical emergency,” a term the law did not define. Her husband told ProPublica that the team said intervening sooner could be a crime.

   For 40 hours, she remained in the hospital while clinicians monitored for cardiac activity. Her open cervix left her at high risk of infection. After clinicians could no longer detect cardiac activity, she delivered.

   The bleeding continued after discharge. When she called, the hospital told her it was expected. Two days later, her husband brought her back. She died on Sept. 8; her autopsy listed sepsis with retained products of conception.

   More than a dozen OB-GYNs and maternal-fetal medicine specialists who reviewed a summary of her records for ProPublica said the delay violated professional standards and that she had a good chance of surviving with earlier intervention.

   “God bless my family. Our first Christmas with our Princess. I love them.”

   “They had to wait until there was no heartbeat. It would be a crime to give her an abortion.”

   ProPublica — “A Woman Died After Being Told It Would Be a “Crime” to Intervene in Her Miscarriage at a Texas Hospital”

2. Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada GlickLuling, TX · Jul 10, 2022 · PassedA newlywed and certified nursing aide, excited to meet the daughter she and Andrew had named Selene. Hypertension, diabetes, and prior pulmonary edema made the pregnancy high-risk.
   Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick

   Luling, TX · Jul 10, 2022 · Passed

   Her high-risk pregnancy unfolded in a town whose hospital had no labor-and-delivery unit or obstetrician on site. Her autopsy listed pregnancy as a contributing factor in her death.

   Yeni came to central Texas from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, when she was three. She helped raise her younger brothers, worked as a certified nursing aide, and married Andrew Glick in November 2021. They were expecting a daughter they had already named Selene.

   She had hypertension, diabetes, and a history of pulmonary edema, a condition that can strain the heart. At her first emergency-room visit, her blood pressure was 185/98 and her case was called a “threatened miscarriage.” Her records describe the pregnancy as high-risk.

   Luling’s only hospital had closed its labor-and-delivery unit years earlier and had no obstetrician on site. Patients with pregnancy emergencies often had to travel to Kyle or Austin for specialized care.

   Records of her six visits with an OB-GYN do not show that anyone discussed whether ending the pregnancy might reduce the strain on her heart. The New Yorker reported that Texas’ new legal environment had made that conversation more difficult. Four outside experts later told the magazine that it should have happened.

   On July 10, paramedics found her weak, short of breath, and severely hypertensive. She lost her pulse before reaching the emergency room. Doctors performed an emergency C-section, but neither Yeni nor Selene survived.

   Her autopsy listed hypertensive cardiovascular disease as the cause of death and pregnancy as a contributing factor. Four outside experts who reviewed her records for The New Yorker called her death preventable and said ending the pregnancy, if offered and accepted, probably would have saved her life.

   “Life is too short for tears and hate.”

   “We were scheduled to do her baby shower that weekend. But we weren’t having a baby shower. We were having a funeral.”

   “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.”

   The New Yorker — “Did an Abortion Ban Cost a Young Texas Woman Her Life?”

3. Amber Nicole Thurman, 28Stockbridge, GA · Aug 19, 2022 · PassedA medical assistant and mother to a 6-year-old son, planning to enroll in nursing school. After a rare complication from medication abortion, the care she needed was delayed for 20 hours.
   Amber Nicole Thurman, 28

   Stockbridge, GA · Aug 19, 2022 · Passed

   After medication abortion, retained tissue led to a grave infection. The hospital lacked a clear legal path for the D&C needed to remove it, and the procedure was delayed for 20 hours. She died on the operating table.

   Amber was a medical assistant and single mother to a 6-year-old son. She loved taking him to petting zoos and pop-up museums, was planning to enroll in nursing school, and had recently moved with him into their own apartment.

   When she became pregnant with twins, she decided to end the pregnancy. She scheduled a surgical abortion in North Carolina, but standstill traffic made her miss the appointment. The clinic provided medication abortion instead; a rare complication left pregnancy tissue in her uterus.

   Days later, she vomited blood and passed out at home. At Piedmont Henry Hospital, she had a grave infection and needed a D&C to remove the retained tissue. The medical team started antibiotics and IV fluids, but the procedure was discussed at least twice and not performed as her condition worsened. The hospital had no policy guiding staff through the new law, making the legality of standard care an institutional question.

   Georgia’s abortion law had taken effect less than a month earlier. It did not clearly tell doctors how to handle a septic abortion after medication abortion, and the hospital had no policy guiding them through the law. Doctors faced the possibility of felony prosecution.

   She was finally taken to the operating room 20 hours after arriving. Doctors performed the D&C and a hysterectomy, but her heart stopped during surgery.

   Georgia’s maternal mortality review committee found there was a “good chance” an earlier D&C would have prevented her death and that the delay had a “large” impact. Her case became the first publicly reported abortion-related death officially deemed preventable.

   “The talks I have with my son are everything.”

   “Promise me you’ll take care of my son.”

   ProPublica — “Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable.”

4. Candi Miller, 41Atlanta, GA · Nov 12, 2022 · PassedA mother of three who made a living braiding hair and doing nails. With lupus, diabetes, and hypertension, doctors had warned another pregnancy could kill her. She died at home after an incomplete medication abortion.
   Candi Miller, 41

   Atlanta, GA · Nov 12, 2022 · Passed

   After an incomplete medication abortion, Candi stayed home; her family said fear of prosecution kept her from seeking care. A state review committee later deemed her death preventable and blamed Georgia’s abortion ban.

   Candi made a living braiding hair and doing nails. She was a mother of three, cared for a garden and stray cats, and was known to dance to old-school funk.

   She had lupus, diabetes, and hypertension. Her family said doctors had warned that another pregnancy could kill her. Georgia’s new law made exceptions for acute, life-threatening emergencies but did not clearly address chronic conditions whose risks could worsen over time.

   When Candi learned she was unintentionally pregnant in fall 2022, she ordered abortion pills online. The abortion did not fully complete; retained tissue can cause sepsis and ordinarily requires medical treatment, including a D&C.

   Her teenage son watched her suffer in bed for days. On Nov. 12, her husband found her unresponsive; her 3-year-old daughter was beside her.

   The available record does not establish exactly how she died. An autopsy found retained tissue and a lethal combination of painkillers, and the medical examiner could not determine the manner of death. Her family said she had not sought medical care “due to the current legislation on pregnancies and abortions.”

   A Georgia maternal mortality review committee later deemed her death preventable and blamed the state’s abortion ban. Committee members said her lack of safe choices and fear of seeking care influenced the outcome.

   “She was trying to terminate the pregnancy, not terminate herself.”

   ProPublica — “Afraid to Seek Care Amid Georgia’s Abortion Ban, She Stayed at Home and Died”

5. Porsha Ngumezi, 35Houston, TX · Jun 11, 2023 · PassedA finance manager and mother of two young boys. During an 11-week miscarriage, she needed two transfusions; three hours after receiving misoprostol, her heart stopped.
   Porsha Ngumezi, 35

   Houston, TX · Jun 11, 2023 · Passed

   While miscarrying at 11 weeks, Porsha suffered heavy bleeding and needed two transfusions. The dilation-and-curettage procedure (D&C) experts said she needed was not provided; in a state where abortion restrictions had made D&Cs legally hazardous, the treating doctor recommended misoprostol instead. Her heart stopped three hours later.

   Porsha was a finance manager at a charter school system and had earned an MBA. She and Hope had two boys, ages 5 and 3; they wanted to build a big family, and she loved chasing and dancing with the boys.

   At 10 weeks pregnant, she began spotting. On June 11, after a family outing, the bleeding became heavier and she went to Houston Methodist Sugar Land, hoping to get home to her sons.

   Over the next six hours, she passed large clots and needed two blood transfusions. Records also noted a blood-clotting disorder that made heavy bleeding especially dangerous.

   More than a dozen OB-GYNs who reviewed her case told ProPublica she needed an emergency D&C to remove the remaining pregnancy tissue. In a state where restrictions had made D&Cs an institutional legal-risk question, Dr. Andrew Ryan Davis recommended misoprostol instead. Her husband said he was not told that a D&C would stop the bleeding faster or that it involved no incisions.

   Misoprostol can be effective for low-risk miscarriages, but experts said it was not appropriate for a patient who was hemorrhaging and unstable. Three hours after she took it, her heart stopped. The medical examiner listed hemorrhage as the cause of death.

   The experts called her death preventable. Their reporting found that Texas abortion restrictions had made D&Cs legally hazardous, pressuring clinicians to avoid them even when medically necessary. In April 2026, the Texas Medical Board disciplined Davis in connection with her care.

   “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.”

   Ms. Magazine — “A Third Woman Died Under Texas’ Abortion Ban. Doctors Are Avoiding D&Cs and Reaching for Riskier Miscarriage Treatments.”

6. Taysha Wilkinson-Sobieski, 26IN · Oct 12, 2023 · PassedA 26-year-old newlywed and mother to a young son. Her local hospital’s labor-and-delivery unit had closed weeks earlier when an ectopic emergency began.
   Taysha Wilkinson-Sobieski, 26

   IN · Oct 12, 2023 · Passed

   She came home from work with severe cramping from an ectopic pregnancy. Her local labor-and-delivery unit had closed weeks earlier; after transfer, the ectopic ruptured and she died two days later.

   Taysha was newly married and raising a young son with her husband. On Oct. 10, 2023, she came home from work with severe cramping.

   The cause was an ectopic pregnancy, a time-critical emergency that can rupture and cause fatal internal bleeding.

   Parkview DeKalb’s labor-and-delivery unit had closed weeks earlier and had no staff to care for her. She was transferred to Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne.

   She died on Oct. 12 of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and its complications.

   This case shows the consequences of losing local obstetric capacity when a time-critical emergency requires transfer.

   IndyStar — “A maternity wing closed. One month later, a young mom died when she couldn’t get care”

7. Nevaeh Crain, 18Vidor, TX · Oct 29, 2023 · PassedAn 18-year-old who had just graduated high school, expecting a daughter she had named Lillian. Three ER visits in 20 hours; two discharges and a delayed ICU transfer.
   Nevaeh Crain, 18

   Vidor, TX · Oct 29, 2023 · Passed

   She sought care three times in 20 hours. At two emergency rooms, she was discharged despite signs of infection; at a third, intensive care was delayed while an obstetrician ordered a second ultrasound to document absent fetal cardiac activity. She died that day.

   Nevaeh had graduated high school in May 2023. She and her boyfriend, Randall, had been together for two years; they imagined a family, and she had chosen the name Lillian for their daughter.

   On the morning of her baby shower, she developed a headache, vomiting, and a fever. Her first emergency-room visit ended with a strep-throat diagnosis and discharge with antibiotics.

   At the second hospital, her temperature was 102.8 degrees, her pulse was abnormally high, and she screened positive for sepsis. After two hours of fluids, antibiotics, and Tylenol, her fever and pulse remained elevated, but she was discharged.

   Before Texas’s ban, this clinical picture called for immediate stabilization, treatment for sepsis, and timely definitive care. Texas law required doctors to document the absence of fetal cardiac activity before intervening in ways that could end a pregnancy, while exposing them to prosecution, loss of license, civil liability, and institutional consequences. The medical standard was not unclear; standard care had become legally dangerous to provide.

   At the third hospital, doctors could not detect fetal cardiac activity. An obstetrician ordered a second ultrasound before moving her to intensive care. Experts who reviewed her records told ProPublica there was no medical reason for that delay.

   The Texas Medical Board later disciplined the doctors from Nevaeh’s first two visits for failures to meet the standard of care.

   Doctors who reviewed the timeline could not determine with certainty whether earlier care would have saved her. They agreed she should have been admitted during the second visit and that the delay at the third hospital was medically unjustified.

   “Do something.”

   ProPublica — “A Pregnant Teenager Died After Trying to Get Care in Three Visits to Texas Emergency Rooms”

8. Ciji Graham, 34Greensboro, NC · Nov 19, 2023 · PassedA Greensboro police officer and mother to a 2-year-old son. Her heart rate reached 192; after a positive pregnancy test, she was sent home without the treatment experts say is safe in pregnancy.
   Ciji Graham, 34

   Greensboro, NC · Nov 19, 2023 · Passed

   Ciji’s heart was beating 192 times a minute. After a positive pregnancy test, cardioversion was not offered, even though experts say it is safe and effective during pregnancy; a second cardiologist did not repeat an EKG. She died while waiting for an abortion appointment.

   Ciji was a Greensboro police officer and trained fellow officers in emergency driving. She was also the mother of 2-year-old SJ and had helped her mother raise nine younger siblings.

   On Nov. 14, 2023, Ciji was experiencing another episode of atrial fibrillation. Her heart rate was 192, putting her at risk of stroke or heart failure. A pregnancy test came back positive.

   Doctors had previously restored her heart rhythm with cardioversion. After the positive pregnancy test, it was not offered; she was sent home to consult three specialists and return in a week. Ciji texted her friend: “Said she can’t cardiovert being pregnant.”

   The next day, a second cardiologist did not repeat an EKG and scheduled cardioversion three weeks later. Some experts said that plan could be reasonable if her pulse was truly normal, but every cardiologist who reviewed her care told ProPublica that a repeat EKG was best practice.

   Ciji believed the pregnancy was worsening her heart condition and sought an abortion to protect her health. North Carolina’s restrictions required an in-person consent visit three days before an abortion, and she faced nearly a two-week wait. The clinic told her that, because of her heart rate, she needed hospital-based care—but the law-shaped access system gave her no clear hospital pathway before her appointment.

   Ciji died at home on Nov. 19. The medical examiner listed cardiac arrhythmia due to atrial fibrillation in the setting of recent pregnancy. Three doctors who had served on maternal mortality review committees later told ProPublica that her death was preventable.

   “The doctors ain’t doing nothing.”

   “I can’t think of any situation where I would feel comfortable sending anyone home with a heart rate of 192.”

   ProPublica — “A Pregnant Woman at Risk of Heart Failure Couldn’t Get Urgent Treatment. She Died Waiting for an Abortion.”

9. Tierra Walker, 37San Antonio, TX · Dec 30, 2024 · PassedA dental assistant, wife, and mother to 14-year-old JJ. As seizures, blood clots, and severe hypertension worsened, she asked whether ending the pregnancy could save her life.
   Tierra Walker, 37

   San Antonio, TX · Dec 30, 2024 · Passed

   Seizures, blood clots, severe hypertension, and preeclampsia put Tierra at high risk of death. Records do not show that any of the more than 90 doctors involved discussed ending the pregnancy, even after she asked. She died at 20 weeks, on her son’s birthday.

   Tierra was a dental assistant, wife, and mother to JJ. She loved her son, cared for two small dogs, and had been planning a move for a new promotion.

   She had hypertension and diabetes, and a previous pregnancy had ended in a stillbirth of twins after severe preeclampsia. During this pregnancy, she began having seizures and was repeatedly hospitalized.

   A blood clot in her leg threatened to travel to her lungs. One doctor documented that she was “at high risk of clinical deterioration and/or death.”

   On Oct. 14, 2024, Tierra asked a physician, “Wouldn’t you think it would be better for me to not have the baby?” Her family says she was told there was no emergency—only a problem with her health. Medical records do not show that the more than 90 doctors involved later counseled her about ending the pregnancy.

   More than a dozen high-risk pregnancy specialists who reviewed her records told ProPublica that standard care would have included discussing the risks early, revisiting them as her condition worsened, and offering termination if she wanted it. Every expert believed she would have survived if the pregnancy had ended.

   Tierra believed Texas’ life exception would protect her because her complications were severe and documented. But the statute’s narrow exception and criminal penalties put doctors in a position where they could not know whether acting before an acute emergency would expose them. She was repeatedly told she would have to deliver.

   An autopsy confirmed that preeclampsia killed her at 20 weeks. Her family later filed a lawsuit alleging that Texas officials and her medical providers contributed to her death; that allegation has not been adjudicated.

   “Wouldn’t you think it would be better for me to not have the baby?”

   “She was doing what they told her to do. Nobody said nothing.”

   ProPublica — ““Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas.”

   • Texas Tribune — “Lawsuit blames Texas abortion ban for San Antonio woman’s death”
10. Mylissa Farmer, 41MO/KS · 2022 · SurvivedHer water broke at 18 weeks. Mylissa had named the daughter she was losing Maeve; state law and hospital legal interpretations blocked the care her doctors documented. Federal investigators later found two hospitals violated EMTALA.
    Mylissa Farmer, 41

    MO/KS · 2022 · Survived

    After previable PPROM, Mylissa’s doctors documented that induction or D&E was medically appropriate. Missouri law told her first hospital it could not offer induction while fetal cardiac activity continued; a Kansas hospital later discharged her without emergency care. Federal investigators found both hospitals violated EMTALA.

    Her water broke on Aug. 2, 2022, at nearly 18 weeks — previable prelabor rupture of membranes, or PPROM. A maternal-fetal-medicine specialist documented that induction was medically appropriate but wrote that “Missouri law supersedes our medical judgment” and that the team was “unable to offer induction of labor at this time.”

    Doctors explained that waiting could expose Mylissa to infection, hemorrhage, hysterectomy, and death. Standard care included counseling her about immediate delivery or expectant management; the legal barrier was not a lack of medical options.

    She called hospitals in two states and two clinics before driving nearly three hours to the University of Kansas Health System with her boyfriend, Matthew. She wanted to induce labor and hold Maeve, but told investigators she would choose whatever option saved her life.

    At the Kansas hospital, staff discussed induction and D&E. A resident later told investigators that the political climate was “too hot and heated,” and that the hospital’s legal team viewed both procedures as too risky. Mylissa was discharged at 1:30 a.m. without a temperature or pain assessment.

    This was a conflict between state criminal law and EMTALA, not a lack of medical options. The treating teams could not obtain a binding court ruling in the moment about which law controlled.

    A federal investigation found that both hospitals violated EMTALA and their own emergency-care policies, leaving patients in “immediate jeopardy”—the highest level of violation.

    At the time, Missouri law told the treating team it could not induce labor while fetal cardiac activity continued. Later, federal investigators found that EMTALA required emergency stabilization or transfer, and a federal court allowed Farmer’s EMTALA claim against the Kansas hospital to proceed. The legal answer came after the bedside decision; it did not protect the doctors when they had to choose.

    “Unfortunately, due to the political climate, it was too hot and heated right now.”

    ProPublica — “Hospitals in Two States Denied an Abortion to a Miscarrying Patient. Investigators Say They Broke Federal Law.”

    • Ms. Magazine — “Say Their Names: The Women Who Died After Being Denied Emergency Abortion Care”
11. Kaitlyn Joshua, 30Baton Rouge, LA · 2022 · SurvivedA mother of one, excited for her second baby. While miscarrying, she was discharged from two emergency rooms without a confirmed diagnosis or clear treatment options.
    Kaitlyn Joshua, 30

    Baton Rouge, LA · 2022 · Survived

    While bleeding heavily and passing tissue, Kaitlyn visited two emergency rooms. Neither confirmed the miscarriage or explained her treatment options; her records later documented a miscarriage, while the hospitals said her care was appropriate.

    Kaitlyn was a community organizer and mother to a 4-year-old daughter. She and Landon were excited to have another child.

    At about six weeks pregnant, Kaitlyn said a physician group told her it no longer saw patients before 12 weeks because of Louisiana’s abortion ban and the risk of investigation. The practice later denied changing its appointment schedule.

    At Woman’s Hospital, an ultrasound showed that the pregnancy had stopped developing. Kaitlyn said staff would not definitively confirm a miscarriage and told her to keep watching it. The hospital later said that diagnosing an early miscarriage can require complex analysis over time.

    The next day, at Baton Rouge General, Kaitlyn arrived bleeding heavily and passing tissue. She says a doctor suggested the ultrasound looked like a cyst, sent her home to wait, and declined her request for treatment, saying, “We’re not doing that now.” Kaitlyn also says she was told documenting a “spontaneous abortion” could trigger an investigation. The hospital later said her care was appropriate.

    Kaitlyn’s medical records, obtained later, documented that she appeared to be miscarrying and diagnosed a spontaneous abortion without complication. She ultimately passed the pregnancy at home, weeks later.

    Louisiana’s law did not expressly prohibit miscarriage care. But its criminal penalties, professional consequences, and vague application created a legal question around treatments also used in abortion care. Doctors and lawyers said clinicians were forced to calculate how law enforcement or a prosecutor might interpret each decision.

    Kaitlyn’s experience shows the consequence of that uncertainty: standard miscarriage care became harder to access, and she was left to endure the process at home without the treatment options she was seeking.

    She has since taken her story to Washington: in September 2024, she testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee about her care.

    “Folks need answers, not prayers. And that’s exactly what I was looking for in that moment.”

    “This experience has made me see how Black women die. Like this is how Black women are dying.”

    NPR

    • U.S. Senate Committee on Finance — “Witness testimony — Kaitlyn Joshua, hearing “Chaos and Control: How Trump Criminalized Women’s Health Care” (Sept. 24, 2024)”
12. Kyleigh Thurman, 25Burnet, TX · 2023 · SurvivedA 25-year-old with an ectopic pregnancy. Multiple emergency rooms denied treatment until her OB-GYN intervened; by then, her fallopian tube was at risk.
    Kyleigh Thurman, 25

    Burnet, TX · 2023 · Survived

    Her OB-GYN requested immediate methotrexate for an ectopic pregnancy, but hospitals repeatedly denied or delayed treatment. Methotrexate came too late; her fallopian tube ruptured and had to be removed. HHS later cited the hospital for violating EMTALA.

    In February 2023, Kyleigh began experiencing an irregular period, cramping, and dizziness. Her OB-GYN suspected an ectopic pregnancy and sent her to her hometown emergency room, where staff turned her away twice after failing to locate an intrauterine pregnancy.

    Her OB-GYN then contacted Ascension Seton Williamson and recommended immediate methotrexate. The hospital denied treatment and sent Kyleigh home with instructions to return in two days. When she returned, staff again did not treat her.

    Her OB-GYN traveled to the hospital and pleaded with staff to provide the medication. The hospital finally administered methotrexate, but the delay had already put her at risk.

    Several days later, Kyleigh experienced sudden, severe pain, bleeding, and nearly passed out. Her ectopic pregnancy had ruptured. Surgeons removed her right fallopian tube, compromising her future fertility.

    Texas law expressly excludes treatment for ectopic pregnancy from the definition of abortion. But the state’s criminal penalties still created fear and confusion around pregnancy care. This was not a case where doctors lacked a medical option: her OB-GYN identified the treatment and asked the hospital to provide it.

    In May 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cited Ascension Seton Williamson for violating EMTALA by failing to provide stabilizing care for Kyleigh’s ectopic pregnancy.

    “I was left to flail. It was nothing short of being misled.”

    U.S. Department of Health and Human Services / CMS — “Statement of EMTALA Deficiency — Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital”

    • AP via PBS NewsHour — “Pregnant women in distress report being turned away from ERs despite federal law”
    • Center for Reproductive Rights — “Clients’ Stories — EMTALA Complaints Against Texas Hospitals (her own account)”
13. Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz, 25Dallas-Fort Worth, TX · SurvivedA 25-year-old with an ectopic pregnancy. Texas Health Arlington’s institutional decision overruled an ER physician’s written objection; a friend’s OB-GYN saved her life.
    Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz, 25

    Dallas-Fort Worth, TX · Survived

    An ER physician warned that discharge was not in Kelsie’s best interest and that her fallopian tube could rupture. Texas Health Arlington’s institutional decision was to discharge her without treatment or transfer; a friend’s OB-GYN performed emergency surgery. She lost most of her right fallopian tube and about 75% of her right ovary.

    The Arlington, Texas, hospital discharged her without treating her ectopic pregnancy or transferring her, even after an emergency-room physician wrote that discharge was “not in her best interest” and acknowledged that her fallopian tube could rupture.

    Texas law expressly permits treatment for ectopic pregnancy. The documented issue was the hospital’s institutional decision not to provide or arrange that treatment—not a lack of medical options.

    A friend’s OB-GYN ultimately provided emergency surgery. Kelsie’s EMTALA complaint alleges that Texas Health Arlington violated federal emergency-care requirements; the complaint remains pending.

    “The doctors knew I needed an abortion, but these bans are making it nearly impossible to get basic emergency healthcare.”

    Center for Reproductive Rights — “Norris-De La Cruz EMTALA Complaint”

    • AP via PBS NewsHour — “Pregnant women in distress report being turned away from ERs despite federal law”
    • Center for Reproductive Rights — “Clients’ Stories — EMTALA Complaints Against Texas Hospitals (her own account)”
14. Leitaea LowrimoreOK/AR · SurvivedA mother with an ectopic pregnancy who spent a week crossing Oklahoma and Arkansas for care. A doctor warned that treating her could mean jail; Kansas finally provided methotrexate.
    Leitaea Lowrimore

    OK/AR · Survived

    Leitaea sought care at three hospitals while bleeding and in pain. The lawsuit says fear of state prosecution delayed treatment; she finally drove to Kansas for methotrexate. Federal regulators later cited one hospital for an eight-hour delay.

    In February, Leitaea went to an Arkansas emergency department with abdominal pain and significant bleeding. An ultrasound could not locate the pregnancy, so she was diagnosed with a “pregnancy of unknown location” and sent home to return for more tests.

    Over the following week, she visited three hospitals across Oklahoma and Arkansas as the pain intensified and she began passing blood clots. The lawsuit says doctors acknowledged that an ectopic pregnancy was possible but did not treat her for it.

    According to the lawsuit, one doctor warned that intervening could mean jail—“10 years in the poky.” Leitaea later said, “I felt like my life was a risk he couldn’t afford.”

    After consulting a lawyer, Leitaea drove to Kansas, where she received methotrexate within hours. She survived, but the delay forced her to cross state lines for treatment that was medically available and legally permitted.

    The lawsuit seeking to block Arkansas’ abortion ban remains ongoing. Federal regulators cited Mercy Hospital Fort Smith for failing to provide care during the eight hours Leitaea waited; the other two hospitals were not found to have violated EMTALA.

    The case shows the gap between a written exception and real-world authority: ectopic treatment was permitted, but providers still feared that a prosecutor could question whether the diagnosis was definitive enough to justify acting.

    ProPublica