Ectopic pregnancy deaths nearly double
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The gist
ProPublica found almost 200 US women died after ectopic pregnancy from 2020 to 2025, versus about.
The rise is steeper in states with abortion bans, where diagnosis delays can turn.
Background
An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy that develops outside the uterus and can rupture and kill if not treated. Abortion bans in many states include exceptions for ectopic pregnancies, but ProPublica reports that getting a definitive diagnosis can take days or even weeks, while rupture risk rises. ProPublica's analysis of CDC data found the death count nearly doubled, and it was worse in states with abortion bans; other pregnancy-related deaths rose during the pandemic but largely subsided, while ectopic deaths kept climbing.
How it unfolded
- 2020 -2025Almost 200 women died after an ectopic pregnancy, compared with about 100 in the previous six years, per ProPublica's analysis of CDC data.
- Feb 2026Leitaea Lowrimore of Oklahoma said in a lawsuit she was denied treatment for an ectopic pregnancy at multiple hospitals; she said, 'There were a few times I asked my husband if I was going to die.'
- 2025Regulators found Ascension Seton Williamson failed to properly screen Thurman for a suspected ectopic pregnancy and did not call in an OB-GYN, violating hospital policy and federal emergency-treatment law.
- Sep 9, 2026 -10, 2026ProPublica published its analysis, and CNN reported on it the following day.
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- ProPublica's analysis found a 'stark and baffling' increase in ectopic pregnancy deaths and said the problem is worse in states with abortion bans.
- Hospital
- A spokesperson for the Ascension Seton hospitals said clinicians provide medically indicated treatment, including for ectopic pregnancy, when a patient has a serious or life-threatening condition during pregnancy; the hospital has denied Thurman's malpractice allegations in a court filing.
- Patient
- Leitaea Lowrimore of Oklahoma said in a lawsuit that she was denied treatment for an ectopic pregnancy at multiple hospitals and feared she would die.
Still unverified
The ProPublica analysis attributes the increase partly to delays in definitive diagnosis under abortion-ban exceptions, but the material does not establish a causal link; the hospital has denied Thurman's malpractice allegations in a court filing, and the regulatory finding against Ascension Seton Williamson is a single case.