As Death Rate Surges, Texas Asks Supreme Court to Let It Keep Denying Care to Pregnant Women

Across the United States, maternal mortality rose 11 percent between 2019 to 2022; in Texas, over the same period, the maternal death rate surged 56 percent, according to an analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data conducted by the Gender Equity Policy Institute.

“There’s only one explanation for this staggering difference in maternal mortality,” Nancy L. Cohen, the institute’s president, told NBC News. “All the research points to Texas’ abortion ban as the primary driver of this alarming increase.”

Five weeks before an election that could hinge on outrage over abortion restrictions, officials in Texas are nevertheless charging ahead with their effort to ensure that the state can continue blocking doctors from providing emergency medical treatment to pregnant residents. The state sued the Department of Health and Human Services, arguing that the Biden administration violated the Medicare and Administrative Procedure Acts when it issued guidance clarifying that hospitals are required to provide emergency abortions if necessary to preserve a woman’s health — even in states that, like Texas, ban abortion.

Texas won with this argument in the Fifth Circuit earlier this year, allowing the state to continue prohibiting emergency abortions. The Biden administration is now appealing that decision, and Texas is asking the high court to let the Fifth Circuit decision stand.

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