National Review columnist refutes claims of ‘sepsis crisis’ linked to Texas pro-life laws

A columnist at National Review has pushed back against recent claims that Texas’ pro-life laws are responsible for a rise in sepsis cases, arguing in a Feb. 24 article that the data cited is misleading and lacks proper context.

ProPublica recently published an article alleging that the Texas Heartbeat Act, which took effect in 2021, led to a 50% increase in sepsis cases among women hospitalized for second-trimester pregnancy losses. The publication reported its findings after purchasing seven years’ worth of Texas hospital-discharge data. 

The article received widespread and “uncritical” coverage from numerous media outlets, according to National Review columnist Michael J. New.

“Texas has become a leader in enacting pro-life policies,” New wrote. “It is unsurprising that pro-abortion researchers and their allies in the media have worked overtime to try to gather evidence of a public health crisis in the Lone Star State.”

New, a professor at Catholic University of America and senior associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, argued that the ProPublica article overstates the data’s significance. Taken at face value, the data shows an annual increase of only 28 sepsis cases after the Texas Heartbeat Act took effect. 

“Sepsis is a serious issue, but an annual increase of 28 cases should not be blown out of proportion, considering that there are over 31 million people living in Texas and close to 400,000 children born in Texas every year,” New wrote.

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