The results of that research, published last fall in the American
The results of that research, published last fall in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, focussed on twenty-eight patients whose course of treatment had to be changed to stay compliant with the laws’ provisions. Nambiar and her co-authors found that, compared with similar research done in states without such legislation, maternal morbidity had increased as a result. Twelve of the women experienced complications that included infections and hemorrhages; nine of them had ended up in the I.C.U., undergone dilatation and curettage, or been readmitted into the hospital after being discharged; and one had required a hysterectomy. Of the twenty-eight case studies, among the fetuses or babies, there was only a single survivor. That baby, the ob-gyn at Parkland said, remained hospitalized for months.