Ectopic Pregnancy Deaths Have Nearly Doubled. It’s Worse in States with Abortion Bans.

 

Reporting Highlights:

Increase in Deaths: ProPublica’s analysis of CDC data found that almost 200 women died after an ectopic pregnancy from 2020 to 2025, compared with about 100 in the previous six years. 

Delays in Care: Abortion bans make exceptions for ectopic pregnancies, but getting a definitive diagnosis can mean waiting days or even weeks, while the risk of rupture and death rises.

Federal Inaction: There’s been no public response to the increase in deaths. The Department of Health and Human Services has drastically cut maternal health staffers and grant funding.

These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

The number of women who died after an ectopic pregnancy has spiked in recent years, a ProPublica analysis found. The mounting deaths in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data have drawn little scrutiny or response.

Such deaths typically occur in the first trimester, after a pregnancy fails to properly implant in the uterus and begins to develop elsewhere, most commonly inside a fallopian tube. The embryo grows until it causes the organ to rupture, triggering catastrophic bleeding. 

With prompt and appropriate medical care, maternal health experts say, women should not die. Yet ProPublica’s analysis found a stark and baffling increase: Almost 200 women with the condition died from 2020 to 2025, compared with about 100 in the previous six years.

“A death related to ectopic pregnancy should really be a never event,” said Dr. Alice Abernathy, an OB-GYN in Philadelphia.

For the entire article, click here: Ectopic Pregnancy Deaths Have Nearly Doubled. It’s Worse in Abortion-Ban States. — ProPublica