Another Woman Died Because of Texas’ Abortion Ban

In September and October 2024, ProPublica reported on five maternal deaths due to abortion bans in Georgia and Texas. Porsha Ngumezi died because a religious hospital wouldn’t perform a simple procedure to save her life; Josseli Barnica died of sepsis because doctors wouldn’t treat her until her fetus’s heartbeat stopped; Nevaeh Crain also died of sepsis for nearly the exact same reason—all three deaths were entirely preventable, and were a direct result of one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country. On Wednesday, the publication revealed a fourth victim of Texas’ draconian ban: Tierra Walker.

Walker, a 37-year-old dental assistant, was about nine weeks pregnant in October when she asked to terminate her pregnancy because she was at risk of developing preeclampsia. She struggled with high blood pressure and diabetes, and just a few years earlier, she’d experienced a dangerous case of it that resulted in the stillbirth of her twins. With a teenage son to think about, she asked a physician, “Wouldn’t you think it would be better for me to not have the baby?” ProPublica writes that Walker knew the law in Texas, but assumed she’d be considered an exception due to the health risk.

According to her family, the doctor said to her what would be repeated by dozens of other health care workers: there was nothing to worry about, and that nothing was wrong with her pregnancy. But shortly after Christmas, her son, JJ, found her on the couch, dead. It was his birthday. She was 20 weeks pregnant and died of preeclampsia.

As Tierra Walker’s 14-year-old son performed CPR on his mother, he shouted, “I need you, I need you!”

Does that sound ‘pro-life’ to you? Monsters.

— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) November 19, 2025

According to Walker’s family, of the more than 90 doctors who helped treat her—21 of whom were OB-GYNs—no one gave her the option to terminate her pregnancy. But, infuriatingly, her symptoms were clear: throughout her first trimester, she seized regularly and would be unable to speak for up to 30 minutes at a time. At five weeks pregnant, doctors noticed her hypertension levels were high enough to indicate an imminent heart attack or stroke. At nine weeks, she told her aunt she had a dream of her dead relatives inviting her to the “other side.” At 12 weeks, doctors noticed severe clotting in her leg. Per the outlet:

ProPublica condensed more than 6,500 pages of Walker’s medical records into a summary of her care with the guidance of two high-risk pregnancy specialists. More than a dozen OB-GYNs reviewed the case for ProPublica and said that since Walker had persistently high blood pressure, it would have been standard medical practice to advise her of the serious risks of her pregnancy early on, to revisit the conversation as new complications emerged and to offer termination at any point if she wanted it. Some described her condition as a “ticking time bomb.” Had Walker ended her pregnancy, every expert believed, she would not have died.

Texas prohibits nearly all abortions, with very few and very vague exceptions for the life of the mother. The law’s vague wording has resulted in doctors, healthcare workers, and hospitals delaying or denying vital, life-saving care because they’re unclear what’s allowed and what could cost them their license, a hefty fine, or prison time. In 2022, more than 20 women filed a landmark lawsuit against Texas over its near-total abortion ban, arguing that their lives were endangered because the ban’s so-called medical exception was too ambiguous to be effective. In May 2024, the state Supreme Court unanimously dismissed them.

New: ProPublica has found multiple cases of women with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions. Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old mother, was told by doctors there was no emergency before preeclampsia killed her. https://t.co/sgOrrEPh1Q

— ProPublica (@propublica) November 19, 2025

“They didn’t want to offer to end the pregnancy, because the government, or someone, says you can’t,” Walker’s aunt told ProPublica. “So you’d rather let somebody die? Now we are the ones that have to suffer.”

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