Anti-Abortion Doctor Appointed to Maternal Mortality Committee Sparks Fury

The appointment of an anti-abortion doctor to the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee (MMMRC) has recently sparked fury on social media among abortion-rights activists.

Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court, Texas, like several other states, has significantly restricted abortion services to women. Texas enacted one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, which does not have exceptions for rape, incest or medical needs as it goes into effect as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. However, the Texas Medical Board recently proposed new guidelines to clarify exceptions in medical emergencies, although these have not yet been adopted.

Last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced the appointment of Dr. Ingrid Skop, a San Antonio-based OB-GYN, to the Texas MMMRC. The committee, which is tasked with reviewing maternal deaths, is also expected to assess the impact of abortion laws on maternal mortality. Skop is expected to start serving her term on June 1.

In a statement to The Houston Chronicle, Skop noted the state’s high rate of maternal death, adding it “deserves rigorous discourse” as she aims to use her new position on the committee to improve women’s health care.

“There are complex reasons for these statistics, including chronic illnesses, poverty and difficulty obtaining prenatal care, and I have long been motivated to identify ways women’s care can be improved. For over 30 years, I have advocated for both of my patients, a pregnant woman and her unborn child, just like the overwhelming majority of OB-GYNs who don’t perform elective abortions,” she told the newspaper earlier this week.

However, since Skop was appointed, many abortion-rights activists have taken to social media to condemn the decision as they point out her previous statements on abortion, warning against the Texas-based doctor participating in the committee.

Newsweek has reached out to Texas’ MMMRC via email for comment.

In a Saturday post on X, formerly Twitter, user DoomScroling, an abortion-rights activist, shared a TikTok video created by Jessica Valenti, a journalist and fellow at Type Media Center, in which Valenti discusses Skop and comments she made to the House Oversight Committee in 2021 in which she said rape and incest victims as young as 9 or 10 years old can carry pregnancies to term.

“If she is developed enough to be menstruating and become pregnant and reach sexual maturity, she can safely give birth to a baby,” Skop said at the time.

“Do you want to know how Texas is going to cover up the fact that their abortion ban kills women, this is how. They just appointed one of the biggest anti-abortion activist’s to their maternal mortality committee…and it’s not just that she is anti-abortion person, she is the anti-abortion person, this is the woman who testified for anti-abortion legislation…this is a person that says 9 and 10 year olds have reached sexual maturity and it is perfectly safe for them to give birth,” Valenti said in her TikTok video.

However, other health experts have warned pregnancy at such a young age is shown to carry significant health risks, including preeclampsia and infections, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

This is not the first time Skop, who serves as vice president and director of medical affairs for the national anti-abortion research group Charlotte Lozier Institute and is a member of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, has been vocal about her views on abortion and pregnancy-related issues.

In addition, Skop is one of the doctors who sued to revoke the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone, an abortion-inducing drug. The case is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court and has not yet been ruled on.

Newsweek has reached out to Charlotte Lozier Institute via email for comment.

Abortion Access Front, a nonprofit organization that supports abortion, reacted to the news of Skop’s appointment and wrote on X on Friday, “WTF! Dr. Ingrid Skop, who thinks women should die instead of receiving an abortion, gets appointed to Texas’ maternal mortality review committee!”

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas also condemned the appointment and wrote on Thursday on X, “Dr. Ingrid Skop, an anti-abortion doctor, has been appointed to the Texas maternal death review committee. Skop is known for being one of the doctors who sued the FDA to revoke mifepristone, a safe and common abortion drug that has been FDA approved for over 20 years.”

Newsweek has reached out to Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas via email for comment.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Center for Health Statistics’ recent report counted 1,205 women who died of maternal causes in 2021, compared with 861 in 2020 and 754 in 2019, translating into an overall maternal mortality rate of 32.9 per 100,000 live births compared with 23.8 in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019.

In Texas, according to The Houston Chronicle, maternal death rates rose from 10 per 100,000 births in 1999 to nearly 22 deaths in 2019.