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Reproductive Rights Deep Dives
The Deadly Result of Abortion Bans: Human Suffering and Lives Lost
Stories of Harm, and the Ways You Can Help
Content Warning: These stories are tragic and, in some cases, include graphic accounts of people losing their lives because of abortion bans.
When anti-abortion extremists ban abortion, people don’t just lose access—they face real harm. Patients are currently navigating dangerous laws and restrictions that endanger their lives and well-being.
The results are tragic, and often preventable. From heartbreaking delays in emergency care to lives forever altered by denied treatments, abortion bans lead to traumatic experiences, devastating long-term health outcomes, and tragic, preventable death.
Abortion bans hurt everyone. People are dying.
These stories remind us that behind every policy, there are families, health professionals, and communities impacted by Trump and the Republican Party’s abortion bans.
We’ll never know the full scope of harm—how many people have suffered, been traumatized, or died—because abortion bans create silence, fear, and shame.
Watchdog agencies are being silenced, too. In Georgia, two mothers—Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller—died preventable deaths under the state’s abortion ban. After their stories made national news, state officials dismissed the entire Maternal Mortality Review Committee and refused to name their replacements. It’s a disturbing pattern: ban care, ignore the consequences, and eliminate the oversight.
People who suffer most are those already facing systemic racism and barriers to care particularly those who are Black, brown, low-income, disabled, undocumented, young, or living in rural communities.
There is hope and power in collective action.
These stories show the real and devastating effects of anti-abortion extremists’ harmful policies.
We must hold lawmakers accountable to ensure every person’s right to safe, compassionate care for all, free from political interference.
Share these stories, raise your voice, and help us build a better future.
The Human Cost of Abortion Bans
Josseli Barnica
Texas
A 28-year-old mother to a young daughter who was thrilled to have another child, Josseli Barnica experienced a devastating miscarriage. She was denied care for 40 hours because of Texas’ extreme abortion ban (SB 8). After finally being treated and discharged from the hospital, she developed sepsis and died three days later.
Read our Statement
Read Josseli's Story (Propublica)
Nevaeh Crain
Texas
Nevaeh Crain had just graduated from high school when she learned that she was pregnant. She wanted a daughter and had already picked out a name for her future child. The morning of her baby shower, she started experiencing signs of a miscarriage and sepsis. She sought emergency care three times over the course of 20 hours before finally being admitted to a hospital, at which point her care had been delayed so long that doctors were unable to save her.
Read our Statement
Read Nevaeh's Story (Propublica)
Ciji Graham
North Carolina
Reporting from ProPublica revealed the death of Ciji Graham, a 34-year-old mother in North Carolina who was denied timely, lifesaving abortion care because of state restrictions.
Read our Statement
Read Ciji's Story (Propublica)
Read our Statement
Read Ciji's Story (Propublica)
Candi Miller
Georgia
Candi Miller, a mother of three, was told having another baby would kill her. When she became pregnant again, she was afraid to seek care amid Georgia’s abortion ban. Candi’s family said she didn't visit a doctor “due to the current legislation on pregnancies and abortions.” Maternal health experts deemed her death preventable and blamed Georgia’s abortion ban.
Read our Statement
Read Candi's Story (Propublica)
Porsha Ngumezi
Texas
Porsha Ngumezi, a 35-year-old mother of two, tragically died after a miscarriage at 11 weeks when Texas’s abortion ban deterred doctors from providing the lifesaving procedure she needed. Despite her critical condition and a known blood-clotting disorder, she was given less effective treatment for her symptoms. She continued to hemorrhage until her heart stopped. Medical experts say her death was preventable.
Read our Statement
Read Porsha's Story (Propublica)
Amber Nicole Thurman
Georgia
Amber Nicole Thurman was a 28-year-old mother to a young son who was planning to go to nursing school. She died after she couldn’t access legal abortion care in Georgia. The state’s maternal mortality review committee found that her death was preventable and said a delay in care had a “large” impact.
Read our Statement
Read Amber's Story (Propublica)
Tierra Walker
Texas
Recent reporting from ProPublica revealed 37-year-old Tierra Walker died a preventable death after she was repeatedly denied access to an abortion. More than 90 doctors were involved in Walker’s care, but not one offered her the life-saving option to end her pregnancy.
Read our Statement
Read Tierra's Story (Propublica)
Trauma caused by delayed or denied emergency abortion care
- Anya Cook had a pregnancy complication that put her life at risk—but because of an extreme abortion ban in her state, doctors could not give her the care she needed. “The doctor said… ‘if I intervene, I could possibly be arrested’… Getting pregnant now feels like a death sentence.”
- Shanae Smith-Cunningham needed an emergency abortion for a nonviable pregnancy—but Florida’s laws meant doctors couldn’t help her. They advised her to travel to New York for the care she needed. “They are playing with people’s lives with this law.”
- Nicole Blackmon was told her pregnancy wasn’t viable and was potentially fatal. She was forced to continue the pregnancy due to Tennessee’s abortion ban. “I was condemned to endure both physical and emotional torture, knowing that I was going to deliver a stillborn. How can Tennessee politicians stand by while this happens to people like me?”
So, what can you do?
There’s nothing we do to bring back the lives that were lost. No policy change or action will ever make things right for the families who’ve suffered devastating harm.
What we can do is share their stories to honor their lives—and to fuel a movement that ensures no one else has to suffer the same fate. Consider sharing these stories, so more people understand what’s at stake.
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