The case of Josseli Barnica, a 28-year-old Houston resident who arrived at HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest Hospital on September 2, 2021, was devastating—a planned pregnancy that was ending in a miscarriage at 17 weeks—but the treatment she needed was straightforward and recognized as the standard of care by obstetricians around the world, reported ProPublica on Wednesday.
But just one day earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court, stacked with right-wing justices appointed by former President Donald Trump, had allowed a six-week abortion ban to go into effect in Texas, threatening doctors with prosecution and jail time if they acted to help patients like Barnica while a fetal heartbeat was still detectable.
The law pushed doctors at the hospital to delay the care Barnica needed for 40 hours, leaving her vulnerable to the infection that killed her three days after she was finally provided with treatment.
Barnica's case is the latest reported by ProPublica, which is examining the cases of pregnant patients who have died after being denied healthcare because of the abortion bans and restrictions now in effect in 21 states.
Barnica, an immigrant from Honduras who had a young daughter, arrived at HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest after experiencing cramps and bleeding. An ultrasound showed that a miscarriage was taking place, with Barnica's cervix dilated to 8.9 centimeters.
But doctors detected fetal cardiac activity, so they could not provide Barnica with medication to expedite a delivery of the miscarried fetus or a dilation and evacuation procedure to clear the uterus of fetal tissue—both of which would have allowed Barnica to begin healing from the miscarriage and protected her from developing an infection such as sepsis.
Doctors announced on September 5 that they could no longer detect a fetal heartbeat, and gave Barnica medication to help her deliver.
But the damage was done. Barnica experienced increasingly heavy bleeding, and her husband rushed her back to the hospital on September 7. He was shocked to learn that she had died the next day, with "sepsis" involving "products of conception" listed as the cause of death.
ProPublica asked more than a dozen OB-GYNs and maternal-fetal medicine doctors to review Barnica's case, which is still being reviewed by a Texas commission that examines maternal deaths and determines whether they were preventable.
But a four-page summary and timeline of Barnica's hospital visits as well as an autopsy report clearly showed that her death was "preventable," said the experts, who called the case and the hospital's failure to provide standard miscarriage care "horrific" and "egregious."
The hospital told ProPublica it had a responsibility "to be in compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations" and did not respond to questions about Barnica's case.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said Wednesday that she was "disgusted and hurt" to learn that Barnica had died because of the state's abortion ban.
"NO PERSON should have to die while losing a child—something that is beyond their control or choice!" said Crockett.
Barnica is one of two Texas women whose abortion ban-related deaths ProPublica is planning to report on this week, as voters across the country head to the polls for early voting ahead of the November 5 election.
Last month, the outlet reported on Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, two women in Georgia who died because of that state's six-week ban after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.
Reproductive rights advocates have emphasized in recent weeks that such cases are the direct result of Trump's selection of right-wing justices for the Supreme Court and the passage of abortion bans across the country—which Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has said should be determined by the states.
"As more deaths are announced, it's clear that pregnant people in states with abortion bans have no expectation of safety. Josseli Barnica died from a delay in miscarriage care caused by a Texas abortion ban," said Greer Donley, a legal expert who specializes in abortion law.
Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin called Barnica's death "heartbreaking, preventable, and the direct result of Trump and the MAGA agenda."
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has spoken about Thurman's death since ProPublica reported on the case last month, saying, "She should be alive today" at a campaign event. Her campaign has aired an ad featuring the woman's family that ties her death to Trump's anti-abortion rights agenda.
Trump has publicly mentioned Thurman's death only once, to joke that a town hall he held on Fox News would get "better ratings" than a press call Thurman's family was having the same day.
"This is such an unfathomable tragedy, brought forth by Republicans and their pro-life bullshit," said Daily Kos reporter Emily C. Singer of Barnica's story on Wednesday. "Vote like your life depends on it, because it does."
