Pregnant Texas teen died after three ER visits due to impact of abortion ban
Neveah Crain died in October 2023 after doctor reportedly called for two ultrasounds to ‘confirm fetal demise’
In another incidence that has brought attention to the medical consequences of the loss of abortion rights in the United States, a pregnant girl from Texas passed away following three consecutive trips to the emergency room in an attempt to receive care.
In October 2023, 18-year-old Nevaeh Crain visited two emergency hospitals Texas Pregnancy in a 12-hour period, each time feeling worse when she got home. On her first visit, Crain was simply diagnosed with strep throat. ProPublica reported that the hospital did not look into her severe cramping in her abdomen.
Following the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal right to an abortion, Crain is one of at least two Texas women who lost their lives as a result of the state’s abortion prohibition. In 2021, Josseli Barnica, then 28 years old, lost her pregnancy.
These cases are considered as proof of a new reality where US medical personnel are reluctant or even terrified to treat expectant moms for fear of facing legal ramifications in places with strong new abortion regulations. Regardless of whether the pregnancy is desired or not, Texas’s abortion law carries a prison sentence for actions that stop a fetal heartbeat.
According to Crain’s medical records, during her second visit, she tested positive for sepsis, a potentially fatal illness. However, after seemingly confirming that her six-month-old fetus still had a heartbeat, the physicians still gave her the all-clear to depart.
After an obstetrician insisted on two ultrasounds to “confirm fetal demise,” Crain was eventually sent to critical care on her third hospital stay, according to ProPublica.
She suffered organ failure and passed away a few hours later. According to ProPublica, a nurse observed that her lips had become “blue and dusky.” This Friday would have been the teen’s twentieth birthday.
Despite Texas’s exclusions for life-threatening illnesses, women in need of medical attention have suffered greatly as a result of the anxiety and uncertainty doctors are instilled with regarding whether procedures could or might not be illegal.
As a result, patients are frequently transferred between institutions in states where abortion is illegal in order to avoid accountability and dispute legality, wasting valuable and sometimes life-saving time.
Sara Rosenbaum, a professor emerita of health law and policy at George Washington University, told ProPublica that pregnant women have effectively become untouchables.
Mini Timmaraju, the president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, stated that Crain’s passing highlighted the lethal danger that abortion restrictions pose.
According to Timmaraju’s statement, “being pregnant shouldn’t be a death sentence.”
Timmaraju blamed Republican politicians like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, the incumbent senator from Texas who is up against Democrat Collin Allred in a fierce reelection campaign, for abortion restrictions.
“This must end,” she declared. “And voting for reproductive freedom is our best chance to do that,” which includes endorsing Allred and Kamala Harris over Trump in the election scheduled for November 5.
Timmaraju stated that by doing this, “we can restore the right to abortion and these bans.”
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