from States Newsroom
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By Sofia Resnick |
“Maternal morbidity and mortality crosses party lines. One preventable maternal death is worth every bit of resource put into it.”
— Dr. Kimberly Pilkinton, president of the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
A memorial for women who died from pregnancy and childbirth sits outside of the Texas Department of State Health Services building in Austin on Sept. 25, 2026. The plaque reads, “In memory of those whose stories we haven’t heard, whose names we don’t know. For the Texans we have lost during pregnancy or childbirth.” (Photo by Lorianne Willett for The Texas Tribune)
With Republicans Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton at the helm the past decade, Texas has been a leader in strict abortion laws and enforcement. The state was first to ban abortion, initially around six weeks and then throughout pregnancy with limited exceptions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade the following year.
In the years since, Texas has sued abortion providers in and outside the state. It has fought legal efforts to clarify medical exceptions in the law, even as news investigations have revealed links between the state’s abortion ban and maternal deaths.
And it has prevented a state public health review committee from releasing and analyzing data that could shed light on the law’s immediate impact on public health.
Early this year, the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee announced it would skip analyzing data on deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth from 2022 and 2023, the first two years after the near-total ban went into effect.
But Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa and Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson, both Democrats, have promised to sharply shift directions, with Johnson announcing he would not sue out-of-state medication abortion providers. And with Democrats also soon to control the lieutenant governorship and the state House, reproductive health advocates are hopeful the new administration will review the missing years, reports The Texas Tribune.
Most immediately advocates are pushing for the release of the committee’s biennial maternal mortality report, which was supposed to be published last month but was delayed until after the midterm elections. The highly anticipated report examines cases from 2021 and 2024, which will be the state’s first comprehensive look at maternal mortality and morbidity since the near-total ban went into effect. The Department of State Health Services says it will release the report by Dec. 1.
The committee has faced criticism for the data delays, for including an anti-abortion activist, and for not adequately reviewing Black maternal outcomes. This week, Democratic state Rep. Charlene Ward Johnson filed a bill calling for a separate study on Black maternal health in the state.
Some changes require legislation, but others do not, such as expanding its review to include 2022 and 2023 and changing who sits on the committee. The committee’s presiding officer, Dr. Carla Ortique, told the Tribune that whether such a retroactive review would be possible for the all-volunteer committee depends on resources, which are currently scarce.
As governor, Hinojosa will be empowered to appoint the DSHS commissioner who will appoint committee members from an applicant pool.
This should not be a partisan issue, said Dr. Kimberly Pilkinton, president of the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
“Maternal morbidity and mortality crosses party lines,” Pilkinton said. “One preventable maternal death is worth every bit of resource put into it.”
THE POD
Next on our Stories From The States podcast: Is ranked choice voting the future of American elections?
Alaska’s contentious U.S. Senate race and Maine’s 2nd Congressional District runoff have put ranked choice voting back in the national spotlight. Under this election system, voters rank their candidates in order of preference, and whoever ultimately gets more than half of the first-preference votes wins.
Ranked choice voting is used statewide in Alaska and Maine, but there’s growing interest in jurisdictions across the country to adopt the practice. However, many states are still cautious about using ranked choice voting.
In Episode 54, Meredith Sumpter, president and CEO of the advocacy group FairVote, joins the podcast to talk about what we can learn from Alaska’s elections, about why voters are drawn to ranked choice voting, and whether the system could curb partisanship.
THE BEAT
Arkansas judge says lawsuit challenging state’s abortion ban can go forward
Attorneys Maria Victoria Abut (second from right) and Molly Duane (right) leave the Pulaski County Circuit Courthouse on Sept. 28, 2026, after a hearing over Arkansas’ abortion ban. Abut and Duane represent seven plaintiffs, including Theresa Van (second from left), pictured with her daughter, Camille (left). (Photo by Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)
A Pulaski County judge ruled last week that the lawsuit seeking to overturn Arkansas’ near-total abortion ban can continue.
Circuit Judge Cara Connors granted motions to dismiss Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the state of Arkansas as defendants in the case, but said that Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin, three state prosecutors and the Arkansas Medical Board will remain as defendants.
Connors has not ruled on the request to block the law from six women and an obstetrician-gynecologist who are challenging the ban. The judge said dismissing Sanders and the state as defendants doesn’t remove that as a possibility.
“Dismissing the state does not diminish the relief available to plaintiffs,” she wrote. “Plaintiffs seek only prospective declaratory and injunctive relief against enforcement of the challenged laws. That relief remains available, if warranted, against the officer defendants charged with enforcing them.”
Arkansas has among the nation’s strictest abortion bans, and the challenge against it is the first filed by Amplify Legal. Amplify Legal is the litigation arm of Abortion in America, an abortion-rights advocacy group co-founded by the late Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards.
The challenged law bans the procedure with a narrow exception to save the life of a pregnant patient in an emergency. It does not include exceptions for rape or incest, and makes it a felony punishable by a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, a maximum fine of $100,000 or both for a medical professional who performs an abortion.
It went into effect in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion, leaving the matter up to the states.
Amplify Legal’s attorneys argue that the abortion ban not only is unconstitutionally vague but also infringes on Arkansans’ constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Five of the six women challenging the ban had nonviable pregnancies between 2022 and 2026, and four traveled to Kansas or Illinois to receive abortions. The fifth continued her nonviable pregnancy for weeks after being denied an abortion, and she began planning her funeral in case she did not survive, according to court documents. The sixth woman ended her pregnancy because she did not want children, according to court documents.
THE PULSE
AZ: Arizona Democratic trifecta expected to try to overturn anti-abortion laws | Arizona Mirror
MS: Mississippi Medicaid won’t confirm if it will use federal grant to pay for doulas | Mississippi Today
PA: Measles cases grow among pregnant women in Pennsylvania | ABC News
RI: Abortion rights become early flash point in Rhode Island Supreme Court nomination | Rhode Island Current
TN: Tennessee bill proposes $1M fine over mailed abortion pills | WSMV4
US: Doctors caution against using GLP-1 drugs during pregnancy| NPR
ABORTION ACCESS IN THE U.S.
Track state-level developments on reproductive rights anytime at News From The States. Send tips and thoughts to ✉️ [email protected], and follow her on Bluesky @sofiaresnick.bsky.social.
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