Candace Fails screamed for someone in the Texas hospital to help her pregnant daughter. “Do something,” she pleaded, on the morning of Oct. 29, 2023.

Nevaeh Crain was crying in pain, too weak to walk, blood staining her thighs. Feverish and vomiting the day of her baby shower, the 18-year-old had gone to two different emergency rooms within 12 hours, returning home each time worse than before.

The first hospital diagnosed her with strep throat without investigating her sharp abdominal cramps. At the second, she screened positive for sepsis, a life-threatening and fast-moving reaction to an infection, medical records show. But doctors said her six-month fetus had a heartbeat and that Crain was fine to leave.

Now on Crain’s third hospital visit, an obstetrician insisted on two ultrasounds to “confirm fetal demise,” a nurse wrote, before moving her to intensive care.

By then, more than two hours after her arrival, Crain’s blood pressure had plummeted and a nurse had noted that her lips were “blue and dusky.” Her organs began failing.

Hours later, she was dead.

Fails, who would have seen her daughter turn 20 this Friday, still cannot understand why Crain’s emergency was not treated like an emergency.

But that is what many pregnant women are now facing in states with strict abortion bans, doctors and lawyers have told ProPublica.

  • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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    She didn’t “die”, that implies this was an unfortunate accident or that she just got sick or something.

    She was murdered by the Republican Gendercide

    • bamfic@lemmy.world
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      Can we start naming them like we did with Black people murdered by police? Don’t forget their names.

  • Juigi@lemm.ee
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    Insane this is allowed to happen in 2024. And more insane that medical staff are following these caveman rules and are not protesting.

  • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    Absolutely horrifying.

    The second ER diagnosed her with sepsis and then sent her home because her fetus had a heartbeat.

    I’m disgusted. If you are a woman, you need to get the fuck out of these death trap states. It is not safe for you there.

    • IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works
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      The second ER diagnosed her with sepsis and then sent her home

      That right there should be criminal charges. Pregnancy staus is irrelevant at that point. Sepsis will kill you if untreated.

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        It was the politicians in Texas that harmed this woman. Not the hospital. The Texas AG sent letters to every hospital in Texas saying he would press criminal charges to anyone granting an emergency abortion. As hard as it is for poor and middle class workers, there’s no way any nurse doctor or hospital is going to put themselves in front of the Texas government. If they could they would have left the state already. (many have.) Small towns in forced birth States literally have no pregnancy care facilities because the staff has all left.

        • Pandantic [they/them]@midwest.social
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          But they “saved” the “baby” right?

          Fify - the baby didn’t make it.

          …they said it may have been possible to save both the teenager and her fetus if she had been admitted earlier for close monitoring and continuous treatment.

          There was a chance Crain could have remained pregnant, they said. If she had needed an early delivery, the hospital was well-equipped to care for a baby on the edge of viability.

      • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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        Maybe don’t let your conservative colleagues know that. They tend to think less of men who get vasectomies for some reason. That could negatively affect how you are perceived at work. Just FYI, from a guy who spent a lifetime working with these cunts.

        • clif@lemmy.world
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          I tell everybody as soon as they ask me if I have kids and I live in a very, very conservative area. Fuck em.

        • FoxyFerengi@lemm.ee
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          I’ve known (or dated) a few conservative men who refused to get vasectomies because they “lower testosterone”. And, of course that means they’re less of a man (to themselves and others who think that way).

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            Is that even true?? You still have your balls, the sperm just doesn’t have an exit route anymore. Like, biology is weird as shit, I could see that somehow causing testosterone to drop slightly for some weird ass reason, but I’ve never heard of it.

            • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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              It is absolutely not true. A vasectomy cannot lower testosterone.

              Unfortunately, conservatives are opposed to science, so the research on this topic will be ignored by them.

              • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                I figured, but man, they’re always learning weird new shit about the body, lol.

                The funny thing is the dudes worried about low T don’t know T that is too high (according to your body, not according to what you want) just converts to estrogen… which you would think they would be a lot more concerned about, given their anxieties about being too feminine!

    • ogler@lemmynsfw.com
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      the second ER did not diagnose her with sepsis, they diagnosed her with strep throat and a UTI. some portion of responsibility IMO lies with that OB-GYN for screwing up that diagnosis, although i understand the larger point of the article seems to be that doctors are reluctant to diagnose or treat really any condition in pregnant women for fear of getting legally crushed by the state

      • Tower@lemm.ee
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        The first hospital diagnosed her with strep throat without investigating her sharp abdominal cramps. At the second, she screened positive for sepsis, a life-threatening and fast-moving reaction to an infection, medical records show. But doctors said her six-month fetus had a heartbeat and that Crain was fine to leave.

      • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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        At the second, she screened positive for sepsis

        From the article.

        The first one said strep. The second one said sepsis.

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          it’s possible that I’m misunderstanding here but I think the sepsis diagnosis is from a retrospective review of her file. at the time there was no sepsis diagnosis. they even specifically call out that doctor for having been under review for missing diagnoses in the past

          After two hours of IV fluids, one dose of antibiotics, and some Tylenol, Crain’s fever didn’t go down, her pulse remained high, and the fetal heart rate was abnormally fast, medical records show. Hawkins noted that Crain had strep and a urinary tract infection, wrote up a prescription and discharged her.

          Hawkins had missed infections before. Eight years earlier, the Texas Medical Board found that he had failed to diagnose appendicitis in one patient and syphilis in another. In the latter case, the board noted that his error “may have contributed to the fetal demise of one of her twins.” The board issued an order to have Hawkins’ medical practice monitored; the order was lifted two years later. (Hawkins did not respond to several attempts to reach him.)

          • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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            Could be. I read the strep and UTI as having been written down either from the previous hospital or by the patient and her mother based on the previous hospital visit.

            And while it sounds like Hawkins is not someone you’d want to be in charge of your care, it seems like there were a lot more failures here than just one bad doctor.

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      I have been saying anti-abortion instead of pro-life. But I feel like there must be another simply-expressed term to reflect their thinking. Something along the lines of anti-women or just anti-choice. I dunno.

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        I’ve always used anti-abortion. Pro-life just isn’t an accurate descriptor, and a “pro-life protest”, or a “pro-life bill” seem like undeserved euphemisms considering what they want. Outlawing executions would be a pro-life bill.

        Anti-choice is good too.

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        It’s absolutely anti-choice. The party of small government (except when it comes to controlling people).

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          Honestly, it is all about sex punishment. In the conservative mind, getting pregnant is a consequence of sex - and if you need an abortion, then you shouldn’t have had sex. It’s that simple to them.

          They don’t think in terms of medical problems or grey areas. Just: had sex, got pregnant, deal with the consequences.

      • leftzero@lemmynsfw.com
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        there must be another simply-expressed term to reflect their thinking

        Monstrous. Sociopathic. Inhumane. Evil. Deranged.

        There’s plenty of simply-expressed terms to reflect their thinking.

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        Not dying from a miscarriage at 20 doesn’t mean you have good genes, it means you’re lucky. Teen pregnancies (she had just turned 20) are more likely to have complications because their body isn’t finished developing yet.

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        The millions of years preceding modern medicine didn’t fix it, so I’m not sure how much time you eugenicists think evolution takes

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    Stop saying “died” - Another woman was MURDERED by ignorant texas bigots in their government and spiteful, irresponsible, freedom-hating voter base.

    cruz, abbott, patrick, gohmert, cornyn and cock-eyed Ken the AG, along with trump, corrupt SCOTUS majority and the whole gop giving them cover, are soaked in this woman’s blood.

    She was a white woman, literally named heaven HEAVEN backwards, and she’s still dead, you absolute cowards that voted to enable this. Y When will you realize that you’re not safe from this, you’re not different, you’re not “one of the good ones” that will see some protections others won’t. Go have someone read a short poem to you, commonly referred to as, “first they came for”. There will be plenty of words in there you don’t understand, but the gist is, YOU OR YOUR DAUGHTER ARE FUCKING NEXT UP - this dead teenager, who never saw her 20th birthday, is the latest Handmaid they throw on the wall as an example to others of what’s coming.

    There won’t be an official announcement when christian fascism takes over your area or else there would have been one a while ago.

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    Recalled this case that is getting public attention in Mexico. Queretaro, a state in the Bajio region of Mexico known by its conservative ideas, is using their attorneys to try to make a 14 yo child to pay 26,000 USD in damage repair to her rapist, because she suffered a miscarriage. The state attorneys also demand her to go to prison for three years.

    Publicly, and in the media, the girl is known as “Esmeralda”. I’m sorry I couldn’t find a note in English about this case to link. The thing in common between both situations is a corrupted institution that’s supposed to protect the people.

  • Noble Shift@lemmy.world
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    Abandon All Things Texas as best you can.

    Let the companies know (who might not have anything to do with this mess) that you cannot morally support tax revenue going to the government of Texass, and therefore can no longer support thier brand.

    Bring pressure to bear. A dollar here and there will add up. I’ve even unsubscribed from TX based content creators.

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      I’ve even unsubscribed from TX based content creators.

      At least ask them how they vote, or tell them! Haha

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      Mort of the people in Texas don’t support this. More over nearly a majority do not have the means to fight this nor leave.

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        This is why I’ve turned against economic sanctions. Texas will still get federal tax dollars, though.

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      I made it to the J’s before I found a company there was even a chance I might support, and it’s the worst of the sandwich options near me that isn’t a subway.

      Sysco was the next one and that’s just because if you go to a restaurant, chances are pretty good they’re getting their food from Sysco.

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      unsubsidized from TX based content creators

      What do you think this will accomplish lol

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        You don’t get my views. If I’m the only one, so be it. I will not help contribute to anything Texas. I’ve written e/snail mails, Ive spoken to several VMs, I can’t vote there, I’m certainly not going to cross any legal or moral lines, so I’m doing whatever it is I can. Scoff if you like, IDGF.

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    politicians killed this girl as surely and as gruesomely as any serial killer.

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    Where were all the pro-lifers? Oh, that’s right, they only care about you before birth. My mistake.

    • auzy@lemmy.world
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      Literally just had an argument with a born again Christian who didn’t want tampons in bathrooms… because tax payers would have to pay and it was the parents responsibility

      This guy though has no problem with collecting the pension from tax payers or the church not paying tax.

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        So he’s fine if we remove all toilet paper from bathrooms. How he wipes his ass is his parent’s responsibility right?

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          Funny you mention that, because that’s actually the argument I brought up.

          Even better , toilet paper is stored in the dirtiest part of the bathroom. Tampons they can store at the sinks

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    Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General who is primarily responsible for the present situation, used to be my local state senator.

    I specifically kept my voter registration in Texas during my college years so that I could continue to cast my vote against him. There is nothing good to say about that evil man.

    I like Texas, and I hope that at some point we figure out how to govern it in a sane way, because I unfortunately cannot recommend living there right now.

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    We all predicted this would happen because we have a basic understanding of the world and a smidge of empathy. Unlike Republicans.