MS NOW’s The Assignment host Antonia Hylton came down with a case of the “correlation does not prove causation” fallacy on Sunday as she hyped a ProPublica report that tried to tie a rise in maternal deaths from ectopic pregnancies to abortion bans. However, even as ProPublica tried to force its predetermined conclusion into its report, there were a few relevant bits of information that Hylton and her guests simply ignored.
Hylton came out of a commercial break claiming pro-lifers are getting women killed, “I want to talk about the people who become unnecessary casualties when our culture war and health care realities collide. Since the Dobbs decision, 20 states have banned or restricted abortion earlier in pregnancy than the standard that was previously set by Roe v. Wade. And in some of the states where abortion is criminalized, patients who are experiencing dangerous medical complications say they've been denied medically necessary abortion care because medical providers fear criminal, financial, and professional penalties.”
On Sunday, MS NOW's Antonia Hylton blames Dobbs (which was in 2022) for a rise in deaths involving an ectoptic pregnancy, (which began rising in 2020), "I want to talk about the people who become unnecessary casualties when our culture war and health care realities collide. Since… pic.twitter.com/A8xLTmxvAp
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 15, 2026
She also claimed, “ProPublica has new reporting suggesting this dynamic could be leading to more women dying from ectopic pregnancies. Analyzing CDC data, ProPublica found almost 200 women with the condition died from 2020 to 2025. That's compared with about 100 in the previous six years, and the uptick was more severe in states with abortion bans.”
“Suggesting” is doing a lot of heavy lifting. As Hylton said, ProPublica noticed an uptick starting in 2020 during COVID, while the Dobbs decision was not issued until 2022. Additionally, Hylton also appeared to acknowledge an uptick in all states, not just ones with abortion bans. Even ProPublica’s experts, who were predisposed to be sympathetic to Hlyton’s argument, warned it was too simplistic, “While they cautioned that abortion bans alone can’t explain the national rise, maternal health experts said any examination of the spike should include the documented delays in care caused by the laws, including for ectopic pregnancies.”
Much later, in paragraph 19, Andrea Suozzo and Agnel Philip write, “Experts aren’t sure why ectopic deaths have continued to rise. Ectopic pregnancies are more common among older women, but the increase in deaths has been even more stark among younger women, the analysis showed.”
MS NOW and ProPublica have a habit of burying relevant information deep in their abortion-related pieces. Nevertheless, according to MS NOW, fear is pro-lifers’ goal. President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Maya Wiley later claimed, “That is the intention of criminalizing medical care, and abortion is health care. It is that simple. And that's what the ProPublica numbers are telling us. And this is why we can't make health care anything other than based in science.”
A bit later Maya Wiley added "The real question here, though, is why are women and girls at the center of tyranny, and particularly women of color?...We're also seeing the same thing where we're telling parents they can't guide the health care of their children because their… pic.twitter.com/4iFVVFeNxf
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 15, 2026
Wiley also had to add race to conversation, “And that's something that is not a decision that comes between a medical professional and the patient. The real question here, though, is why are women and girls at the center of tyranny, and particularly women of color?”
She also claimed, “We forget black women are dying to have children. Dying to have children. And this is—predates anything we're talking about right now. We saw the increase in maternal deaths for black women escalating before the Trump administration, before this decision on overruling Roe v. Wade. We already had a medical crisis that was growing for women who want to be parents. And so I say that because it should be it's every woman, it's every girl. But we also forget that these are about families and they impact families because men should understand they're victims of this too.”
Despite just saying medical care should be based on science, Wiley also added transgender minors to the list of victims, “We're also seeing the same thing where we're telling parents they can't guide the health care of their children because their children are identifying as transgender. I mean, so the whole idea of government coming into the space that should exist only in confidential communication between a health care provider and their patient is one that should concern all of us.”
Even if MS NOW and ProPublica are right that doctors are afraid of potential repurcussions, that does not mean that those fears are well-founded. States with pro-life laws do not prohibit care for ectopic pregnancies.
Here is a transcript for the September 13 show:
MS NOW The Assignment with Anotnia Hylton
9/13/2026
2:18 PM ET
ANTONIA HYLTON: I want to talk about the people who become unnecessary casualties when our culture war and health care realities collide. Since the Dobbs decision, 20 states have banned or restricted abortion earlier in pregnancy than the standard that was previously set by Roe v. Wade. And in some of the states where abortion is criminalized, patients who are experiencing dangerous medical complications say they've been denied medically necessary abortion care because medical providers fear criminal, financial, and professional penalties. ProPublica has new reporting suggesting this dynamic could be leading to more women dying from ectopic pregnancies. Analyzing CDC data, ProPublica found almost 200 women with the condition died from 2020 to 2025. That's compared with about 100 in the previous six years, and the uptick was more severe in states with abortion bans.
…
MAYA WILEY: And it's by design. That is the intention of criminalizing medical care, and abortion is health care. It is that simple. And that's what the ProPublica numbers are telling us. And this is why we can't make health care anything other than based in science.
And that's something that is not a decision that comes between a medical professional and the patient. The real question here, though, is why are women and girls at the center of tyranny, and particularly women of color? Because to Molly’s point, you know, the question is whether you can travel to a place where you can get an abortion. And in a case of—
HYLTON: Or to have a Plan B.
WILEY: —or to have a Plan B, and if it's an ectopic pregnancy, to your point and to the point of this report, you don't have time. I have a family member who survived thanks to the fact that she could go get—have her ectopic pregnancy dealt with.
And you know, we forget black women are dying to have children.
HYLTON: Yes.
WILEY: Dying to have children. And this is—predates anything we're talking about right now. We saw the increase in maternal deaths for black women escalating before the Trump administration, before this decision on overruling Roe v. Wade. We already had a medical crisis that was growing for women who want to be parents.
And so I say that because it should be it's every woman, it's every girl. But we also forget that these are about families and they impact families because men should understand they're victims of this too.
We're also seeing the same thing where we're telling parents they can't guide the health care of their children because their children are identifying as transgender. I mean, so the whole idea of government coming into the space that should exist only in confidential communication between a health care provider and their patient is one that should concern all of us.
