Did an Arizona woman die because of lack of abortion care?

PHOENIX (AZ family) — During the campaign ended Proposition 139shared by some Arizona women stories how the state’s 15-week abortion ban caused delays in emergency treatment that harmed their health. However, it is unclear whether the Arizona woman died as a result of the ban delays.

And it may take years to discover this. The state commission investigating maternal deaths is still reviewing cases dating back years before the ban takes effect in December 2022. Even then, doctors say it’s unclear whether the information will ever be made public.

Over the past few months, ProPublica reported on four pregnant women who died in states with abortion bans after being denied care: two IN Georgia AND two IN Texas.

Even in states with sick leave laws designed to protect “mother’s life,” many doctors have complained that the laws are vague and put them at risk of prosecution if a jury second guesses their actions. Some doctors say hospital lawyers have intervened to delay care for fear of the legal ramifications of the bans.

“If there’s a heartbeat and it’s been more than 15 weeks, they probably won’t get any care,” said Dr. Gabrielle Goodrick, who runs Camelback Family Planning, a clinic in Phoenix that performs abortions. “It’s quite unclear. The lawyers in these hospitals and the doctors in these hospitals cannot act to save people’s lives. They are risking their license and other things.”

If you have any information about a woman dying due to lack of abortion care in Arizona, please email [email protected].

In Arizona, all deaths during pregnancy are reviewed by a group of experts called the Maternal Mortality Review Commission (MMRC). The committee determines whether the death could have been prevented and whether patient care played a role. His latest reportpublished in January 2024, it covered deaths in 2018–2019.

If the commission maintains this schedule, it will not publish data for the first full year of the abortion ban until 2027.

An ADHS spokesman said the commission does not publish data on maternal deaths caused by lack of access to abortion. Instead, the MMRC identifies what proportion of maternal deaths were likely preventable and provides general information on common ways and causes, such as homicide, suicide, mental health or substance abuse, cardiovascular disease, or hemorrhage.

“Given the range of conditions or causes that can contribute to death during pregnancy or after childbirth, it may be unclear to what extent the ability or inability to access abortion contributed directly or indirectly to the mother’s death during pregnancy or after childbirth.” – she added. – the agency said in a statement.

However, it appears that leaked documents from Georgia’s maternal mortality commission reported the ProPublica agency. These boards, established on a state-by-state basis, do not provide detailed information about individual patients.

In one death in Texas, ProPublica said it reviewed the patient’s medical records with nine independent physicians. All nine said the doctor made a mistake in sending the woman home when she showed signs of sepsis.

“Sending a patient home with sepsis makes me shudder to think that a doctor would do such a thing. This is clearly malpractice,” said Dr. Greg Marchand, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Arizona who did not review the patient’s records.

Dr. Marchand, who supports Arizona’s 15-week ban, said he suspects medical errors contributed to the deaths. He rejected the notion that the sick leave provision under Arizona law is vague.

“As a board-certified OB-GYN, this argument is truly offensive to me. The idea that maybe obstetricians are afraid, or we don’t understand the law, and as a result we may be afraid to undergo treatment. It’s just not true,” he said.

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