Neveah Crain would have turned 20 this year. Instead, in 2023, the pregnant Texas teenager lost her life after making three urgent visits to various emergency rooms.
Crain’s tragic case underscores the impact of the growing anti-abortion movement, which is severely restricting access to essential reproductive healthcare for many Americans. This issue is not isolated to Texas; it extends to states like Georgia, where similar situations have arisen, including the case of Amber Thurman.
Here’s everything you need to know about Crain’s devastating, preventable death, Texas’s abortion laws, and others who have been affected.
What Happened to Neveah Crain?
In October 2023, Crain visited two different emergency rooms within a 12-hour period, each time returning home feeling worse. During her first visit, she was only diagnosed with strep throat, and the hospital did not address her severe abdominal cramps, as reported by ProPublica.
BREAKING: Texas’s abortion laws claim another life. Nevaeh Crain, 18, died after doctors repeatedly denied her critical care during a miscarriage, fearing legal repercussions.
Even as her organs failed, they waited for “fetal demise” confirmation before stepping in.
This is… pic.twitter.com/8Ztjkidz91
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) November 1, 2024
Medical records show that Crain tested positive for sepsis on her second visit. Despite this alarming diagnosis, doctors discharged her after confirming that her six-month-old fetus still had a heartbeat.
On her third trip to the hospital, Crain was finally admitted to intensive care after an obstetrician insisted on conducting two ultrasounds to confirm the fetal demise, according to ProPublica. Tragically, she died just hours later from organ failure, with a nurse noting that her lips had turned “blue and dusky.”
What Are Texas’s Current Abortion Laws?
As of now, Texas has some of the strictest abortion laws in the United States. Here are the key points:
- Total Ban on Abortions: Most abortions are banned after about six weeks of pregnancy, which is often before many people even know they are pregnant.
- Trigger Law: Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a trigger law took effect, prohibiting nearly all abortions with very limited exceptions, such as when the mother’s life is at risk.
- No Exceptions for Rape or Incest: The law does not allow for abortions in cases of rape or incest.
- Legal Consequences: Healthcare providers who perform illegal abortions may face severe penalties, including criminal charges and civil lawsuits.
- Public and Private Enforcement: The law allows private citizens to sue anyone who performs or aids in an abortion, creating a system of enforcement that relies on private lawsuits.
- Counseling and Waiting Periods: Texas law requires patients to receive counseling and a 24-hour waiting period before undergoing an abortion.
Who Else Has Died Due to Texas’s Abortion Ban?
So far, Josseli Barnica is the only other reported woman in Texas who died as a result of the state’s abortion ban.
On September 3, 2021, Barnica, already a mother to one daughter, was 17 weeks pregnant and experiencing a “miscarriage in progress,” as noted in her hospital records. Due to the restrictive laws, she had to wait until “there was no heartbeat,” which occurred nearly 40 hours later. She died three days later from an infection.
Josseli Barnica died of a miscarriage in Greg Abbott’s Texas, because doctors thought it would be a crime to treat her.
Think about that.
🚨This should be a HUGE story.pic.twitter.com/uTqCfWcGv5— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) October 31, 2024
Medical experts who reviewed Barnica’s hospital and autopsy records at ProPublica‘s request deemed her death “preventable,” describing her case as “horrific,” “astounding,” and “egregious.”
Both Crain and Barnica intended to carry their pregnancies to term, hoping to bring their children home safely. However, complications and increasingly strict abortion laws delayed essential healthcare, ultimately costing both women and their children their lives.