GEORGIA — SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective Executive Director Monica Simpson issued a statement this week following a ProPublica investigation documenting the death of Tierra Walker, a Georgia mother who was denied an abortion despite clear medical risk.
The ProPublica article, titled “‘Ticking Time Bomb’: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas,” details the circumstances that led to the death of 37-year-old Walker.
ProPublica explains that during her pregnancy, Walker faced seizures, high blood pressure and diabetes, signaling that she was at risk for developing preeclampsia, a potentially fatal pregnancy complication. A few years earlier, Walker developed preeclampsia and delivered stillborn twins. Despite repeatedly asking medical professionals whether termination was the safest option, she was reportedly told there was no pregnancy problem, only a “health problem.”
According to ProPublica, “one doctor documented in her medical record said that she was at ‘high risk of clinical deterioration and/or death,’” yet no medical intervention was performed. On his birthday, just after Christmas, Walker’s 14-year-old son, JJ, found her dead at 20 weeks pregnant. The report states that Walker’s family was bewildered, having been reassured by medical staff that she and the baby would be fine.
In her statement, Simpson condemned what she described as political overreach by “extremist lawmakers,” arguing that fear created by Texas’ strict abortion laws blocked Walker from receiving medically necessary care.
Simpson said, “Texas’ near-total abortion ban denied her the life-saving abortion she needed — tragically cutting the life short of another Black woman. Tierra deserved access to an abortion, but fear and inhumane policies kept providers from acting. That fear, created by those who put politics before people, cost her life.”
She said nearly 90 medical professionals involved in Walker’s care failed to offer an abortion out of “fear of prosecution.” Simpson reiterated, “This fear, created by those who put politics before people, cost her life.”
Simpson and SisterSong expressed condolences for Walker’s son, JJ, who now must grow up without his mother. She said SisterSong will continue advocating for reproductive justice and the right to bodily autonomy.
At the end of her statement, Simpson posed a final question to lawmakers: “How many more children need to be ripped from their mothers before you stop treating our lives as expendable?”
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