FACT CHECK: Tierra Walker's death was tragic, preventable, and not due to pro-life laws

ProPublica, a media outlet backed by pro-abortion groups, is again attempting to blame the tragic death of a pregnant woman who did not receive the care she or her preborn baby deserved on a state's pro-life laws.

Key Takeaways:

• Tierra Walker began suffering from seizures and high blood pressure soon after learning she was pregnant.

• Her health and life were both at risk, but doctors told her that once they got her health concerns under control, all would be well.

• Once her condition worsened at about 20 weeks, she was hospitalized for monitoring, but was ultimately sent home on medication, even though she likely needed to remain in the hospital until delivery became necessary.

• ProPublica falsely claimed that a premature induced delivery is the same as an abortion. It is not. Delivering a baby to save the mother's life is not an abortion, because the law in Texas, where this situation took place, defines abortion as the intentional killing of the baby. An induced abortion (as defined by ACOG) has the intent of not resulting in a live birth.

• Walker seems to have been the latest victim of medical neglect during pregnancy. She did not need an abortion, but she did need monitoring at the hospital, bed rest, and likely even preterm delivery.

The Details:

ProPublica shared the story of Tierra Walker, who tragically died during pregnancy due to pre-eclampsia and other issues with her health.

According to the outlet — which is financially supported by pro-abortion groups like the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, the Carnegie Corporation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation — Walker needed an abortion (or, as defined by ACOG, an induced abortion) but was repeatedly denied one.

According to ProPublica, Walker began suffering from "unexplained seizures," and was "mostly confined to a hospital cot" in the weeks after learning she was pregnant. Her blood pressure was high, she had diabetes and hypertension, and she was at risk of pre-eclampsia, a condition that threatens the lives of both mother and baby. Walker had pre-eclampsia in a previous pregnancy, in which she lost twins. Doctors said the increased risk of pre-eclampsia was due to her weight, age, and medical history.

She decided that, due to her health issues, she would ask her doctor for an abortion. She knew that pro-life laws protected preborn children from abortion in her state of Texas, but she believed that her health status would make her an exception to the law.

Her aunt told ProPublica that she asked the doctor if "it would be better for [her] to not have the baby." ProPublica reported that the doctor and other medical professionals told her that she was not facing an emergency and that nothing was wrong concerning her pregnancy.

Yet she was in and out of the hospital, staying for as long as three weeks. Doctors could not find reasons for her spasms or seizures. She eventually developed a blood clot that put her health in real danger.

Clearly, something was very wrong.

According to ProPublica, "Walker's blood pressure swung wildly." She went to her prenatal visits and took trips to the ER.

In her chart, it was noted that she was at "high risk of clinical deterioration and/or death," and ProPublica alleges that more than 90 doctors, including 21 OB/GYNs, were involved in her care. The outlet claims she continued to ask for an abortion, and doctors continued to tell her the pregnancy wasn't the problem.

According to the report, during one hospital stay, a doctor who was not an OB/GYN told her that once they got her health issues under control, everything would be fine.

Zoom In:

As a Black woman, Walker was three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than a white woman. According to Dr. Andrew Meltzer, senior author of a 2019 study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, and a researcher at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C., the reasons may include "implicit bias, language barriers, and cultural differences in the perception and expression of pain and institutional differences in ERs that serve mostly Black and Hispanic patients."

Walker continued to suffer health concerns, and at 12 weeks pregnant, a blood clot in her leg became so severe that she needed a thrombectomy to remove it.

At 20 weeks pregnant, she reportedly went to University Hospital's emergency room with rising blood pressure and was officially diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. She was admitted to the hospital, where she was to be monitored.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, standard treatment for severe pre-eclampsia is to remain in the hospital for monitoring until the baby is delivered. When doctors determine the baby must be delivered, this is not an abortion, no matter what stage of the baby's development.

An abortion is the direct and intentional killing of a preborn baby. The goal of an induced abortion is to ensure the baby dies. Induced delivery in a situation like Walker's is not an abortion, because the goal is to save the mother's life... and potentially save the baby's life as well.

As Dr. Donna Harrison of the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs noted in 2019:

"There is a very big difference between previable separations and elective abortion. In these situations where a mother and her fetus must be separated in order to save the life of the mother we would try to optimize the conditions of the separation so that the fetus has the best possibility to live.  But there are cases when the baby will not survive the separation due to gestational age. We call these previable separations. These separations are done with the intent to save both if possible, but at least to save the life of one.

Previable separations are not the same as elective abortions.  The intent of an abortion was made very clear at the Supreme Court hearings over the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. The abortionists argued that the product the abortionist is paid to produce is a dead baby, and that is what distinguishes a delivery from an abortion. The intent of a delivery is to produce, if possible, both a live baby and live mom. The intent of an abortion is to produce a dead baby."

Unfortunately, Walker's baby would have been too young for a strong chance at survival, but regardless, her life appeared to be in danger, and she likely should have remained at the hospital so doctors could carefully monitor her condition. But Walker didn't receive careful monitoring or a life-saving induced delivery; she was given medication and sent home.

Just three days later, her son JJ found her face down in bed. He tried to save her life, but was unable to do so. It was his birthday.

The Big Picture:

Although several doctors told ProPublica that Walker needed an abortion, what she needed was an induced delivery, which ProPublica admitted, but then lied about.

It claimed:

The treatment for severe preeclampsia, which points to a problem with the placenta, is delivery — or, at 20 weeks, an abortion.

This seems to be a deliberate attempt to confuse women.

Delivering the baby at any stage because of a health crisis is not an abortion, because the intention is not to kill the baby. Even if the baby is too young to survive, as Walker's was at 20 weeks, delivery is not the same as an abortion, and this is made clear in the definition of abortion in pro-life laws.

It really is very simple: procedures used to save a mother's life in an emergency like Walker was facing are not abortions, and they're not defined as abortions in pro-life laws.

The Pro-Life Reply to: "Is Abortion Ever Medically Necessary?"

Yet, ProPublica went on to claim that pro-lifers "fear" exceptions, because they think they will be used to allow anyone to have an abortion for any reason. This is why laws must be written clearly and carefully. Asking for a law to allow an exception to "prevent" an emergency, as ProPublic advocates, would be no exception at all. An abortion for any reason could fit under the umbrella of "prevent[ing]" an emergency because an emergency can happen at any time in a person's pregnancy or life.

Pro-lifers don't "fear" exceptions; they know that health exceptions really aren't necessary once it's understood that delivery in an emergency is not an abortion at all.

ProPublica also claimed that pro-lifers "refus[e] to entertain these broader exceptions."

But this is not true. Even though health exceptions are not necessary when abortion is defined for what it is — the direct and intentional killing of a preborn baby — pro-life legislators have included exceptions in their laws and have even updated laws to be clearer.

As the pro-life organization The Radiance Foundation pointed out on Facebook:

A simple fact-check, which is apparently too hard for leftist news outlets, shows Texas' #prolife laws clearly allow abortion to save the physical life of the mother or if there is serious physical impairment. It's called the #LifeOfTheMotherAct (passed in May 2025). This was passed to clarify Texas' 2021 #HeartbeatAct which "prohibit[s] and criminalize[s] abortion unless the mother's life is in danger."

The Bottom Line:

ProPublica has won awards for its shoddy attempts to blame pro-life laws for the same kinds of incidents that likewise happen in states without pro-life laws. It has missed the mark again in blaming Texas' pro-life law (which clearly defines abortion) for this horrific and tragic death.

Go Deeper:

Read more about ProPublica's attempts to blame pro-life laws for various deaths and injuries:

• ‘PREVENTABLE’: How pro-abortion media is weaponizing reporting on maternal deaths

• ProPublica ignores its own findings about pregnant women in pro-life states

• ProPublica blames pro-life laws for miscarriage complications, but admits data can’t prove it

• ProPublica exploits another mother’s death by ‘substandard medical care’ in attempt to blame pro-life law

• The problems with ProPublica’s attempt to blame Texas pro-life laws for increased sepsis

• Experts say this mom died from malpractice. ProPublica wants you to blame pro-lifers.