Texas’s abortion ban has turned pregnancy into something many people fear instead of celebrating. Doctors told Courier Texas that many of their pregnant patients now worry about what would happen if a pregnancy went wrong: where they’d go, who would treat them, whether they’d survive.
A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found a possible 9.2% increase in pregnancy-associated deaths, or deaths from any cause during pregnancy or within a year after it, across 14 states that had banned abortion by the end of 2022. The toll isn’t only physical.
A study published in JAMA Network Open found that after Texas’s 2021 ban took effect, mothers in the state became significantly more likely to report poor mental health than mothers in states without bans. The effect was nearly three times larger for mothers whose children are covered by Medicaid.
Texas Republicans are now debating whether to go even further. At this month’s GOP convention in Houston, delegates voted to add new goals to the party’s official wish list for state law: opposing IVF, claiming it’s destructive to embryos, and declaring that a fertilized egg should have the same legal rights as a person from the moment of conception, language that could open the door to criminal charges. Delegates also voted to remove wording that had protected women from being criminally charged over their own abortions.
Maternal mortality in Texas has risen 56% since the state’s first abortion ban took effect in 2021, and several women have died after hospitals delayed care during miscarriages and pregnancy complications. A 2025 law meant to make medical exceptions clearer hasn’t changed that. Dr. Damla Karsan, an OB-GYN in Houston; Dr. Bhavik Kumar, a Houston family physician; Dr. Lou Rubino, a family physician and former lead doctor at Austin Women’s Health Center who is now medical director of an abortion and reproductive health clinic in Virginia; and Yvonne Gutierrez, executive director of Reproductive Freedom for All, told Courier Texas how pregnant Texans can protect themselves amid the well-founded fear.
READ MORE: ‘I don’t want to die’: Texas doctors say their patients are afraid to get pregnant
- Ask your medical provider how they feel about abortion and if they will commit to doing everything in their power to keep you safe during your pregnancy. Tell them you want them to treat you like they would in a state without an abortion ban — to do what the medically right thing to do is. If they won’t do that, then find another doctor.
- Have an honest conversation with your medical provider and with your family about what all your options are if your health changes during your pregnancy.
- Have a plan for what you will do if you run into a complication.
- Do not go to a Catholic-affiliated hospital if you are miscarrying or may have an ectopic pregnancy. If you don’t know, then ask. They may not provide an abortion even if you are close to death.
- Try to save money so if you have to leave the state, you have resources to go to get an abortion or miscarriage care. Know where your closest non-abortion-ban state options are to travel to.
- If you have a preexisting condition like high blood pressure or diabetes, talk to your doctor about how it is impacting or could impact your pregnancy. Get as educated as possible about the risks to your health that you may face during your pregnancy.
- If your feet have swelled a lot or you have persistent or really bad headaches, that could be a sign that your blood pressure is really high. See your doctor and tell them you need them to pay attention to your health and not just the state’s laws.
- If you run into a serious pregnancy complication, get to a larger hospital or medical center in a major metropolitan area. That’s where the staff will be more familiar with patients who have complicated pregnancies and may need to end a pregnancy.They will more likely have already navigated these types of situations, so you will be more likely to get the care you need.
- Go with a partner or friend to your doctor or a hospital who can advocate for you. They need to be prepared to be loud and demanding, if necessary, to get the attending doctors and nurses to do the tests, ultrasounds and monitoring you need, then to treat a complication as soon as possible, like an ectopic pregnancy, a miscarriage or your water breaking too early. Don’t be afraid to demand their attention and get treatment.
- Know that it is legal to go to another state where abortion is legal to get the care that you need and then to return afterward.
