Data analyzed by ProPublica and collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a steeper rise in states with strict abortion bans.
An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterine wall, most commonly inside a fallopian tube. While medical experts emphasize that prompt care should prevent fatalities, national figures indicate a sharp and unexpected upward trajectory. Almost 200 women died from the condition over a recent multiyear span, drawing renewed scrutiny to emergency care access and the legal climate surrounding reproductive healthcare.
National Mortality Trends and CDC Data Analysis
Ectopic pregnancies occur in about 1% to 2% of pregnancies, and ectopic pregnancy ruptures represent the leading cause of maternal mortality within the first trimester of pregnancy with a rate of 9%–14% and an incidence of 5%–10% of all pregnancy-related deaths. Federal data recorded 196 such deaths, compared to about 100 in the previous 6 years, in what ProPublica calls a stark and baffling
increase.
Despite the mounting figures, the mounting deaths in CDC data have drawn little scrutiny or response. ProPublica’s analysis found a stark and baffling increase in the data.
“A death related to ectopic pregnancy should really be a never event.”
Alice Abernathy, MD, an ob/gyn in Philadelphia
The Impact of State Abortion Bans on Emergency Care
While mortality increases appeared across the country, the most notable rise was observed in states that imposed strict abortion restrictions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, with the uptick much worse in the 13 states where abortion is near-totally banned. Treating an ectopic pregnancy requires ending a pregnancy that is almost never viable. In jurisdictions where performing an abortion carries criminal penalties, physicians may hesitate or flat-out refuse to do that or wait for definitive confirmation of the diagnosis, fearing legal consequences, while lawsuits and federal complaints have alleged that some medical providers are hesitating or flat-out refusing to do that in states where they face criminal penalties for performing an abortion. In the early stages, an ultrasound does not always show where the embryo has implanted, and doctors may then monitor blood test results over several days, although such delays increase the risk of a ruptured fallopian tube.
I’ve been tracking changes in state abortion definitions since Dobbs. 8 antiabortion states have changed their definition of abortion in the past 4 years to exclude ectopic pregnancy. W/o an exclusion, ectopic pregnancy treatment can fall under a ban. Greer
Patient Accounts and Hospital Discrepancies
Individual case studies underscore the dangerous delays patients face in emergency departments. In 2023, Kyleigh Thurman of Texas visited two emergency departments, but she was discharged without proper treatment, and after her right fallopian tube ruptured, the patient underwent surgery to have it removed. In 2025, regulators determined that one of the hospitals failed her care.
In another instance, an Oklahoma woman who’d been experiencing abdominal pain and heavy bleeding sought care across the border in Arkansas in February, only to be sent home and visit three different hospitals across both states the week afterwards, as both states have a total abortion ban. She eventually sought treatment in Kansas, where abortion is legal until 21 weeks and six days. In a following lawsuit, the doctors that failed to treat the woman acknowledged she was suffering an ectopic pregnancy—which would have been treatable despite the states’ respective bans, as Arkansas and Oklahoma both have exceptions to save the life of the mother—but were worried they could face punishment for treating her, with one clinician stating per the filing: 10 years in the poky.
Patients described their terror. Kyleigh Thurman said she genuinely thought she was going to die. In a lawsuit, Leitaea Lowrimore of Oklahoma said there were a few times she asked her husband if she was going to die and that she kept thinking about their kids.
Broader Hospital Metrics and Unresolved Risk Factors
While chaos and access issues at hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to at least some of the deaths, the surge has persisted, raising serious questions about the role of the most significant disruption to maternal healthcare in the years since: state restrictions on abortion.
