Petition claims abortion restrictions pose 'immediate medical risk', with no supporting evidence

More fallout from the end of Roe v. Wade – the American Geophysical Union (AGU) is being pressured by its members to relocate its 2025 Fall Meeting from New Orleans, Louisiana, to a state without “abortion bans or restrictions,” Nature reports.

According to Nature, more than eight hundred of AGU’s members have signed a petition asking for a relocation. The petition was organized by Claire Kouba, who claims that Louisiana’s abortion restrictions “create an immediate medical risk” for meeting attendees, should they be pregnant at the time.

AGU has around 60 thousand members and its meetings are among the largest in the United States, with some 25 thousand people participating.

Nature describes Louisiana’s abortion bans as “among the strictest in the nation.” Kouba’s petition claims that pregnant people [sic] experiencing an ectopic pregnancy, a septic uterus, an incomplete miscarriage, or other complications could require emergency medical care which Louisiana doctors might be reluctant to provide, fearing legal action, and thus holding a conference in the state could endanger the lives of “anyone with a uterus”.

Nature is not the only media outlet to repeat allegations that doctors in states where abortion laws are relatively strict are hesitant or unwilling to provide life-saving medical care to women experiencing complications of pregnancy. And Nature is likewise not alone in failing to provide any evidence that such allegations are based in fact.

A recent CBS News article led with a “People will die” headline and highlighted the myriad dangers posed by being pregnant.

“Pregnancy is dangerous, especially when carried to term,” claims Ob-Gyn Dr. Louise Perkins King. Therefore, “every person needs to be able to decide for themselves whether they wish to go forward with all those risks and morbidities. . . . As a human being, I have fewer rights if I’m . . . a person with a uterus to control my body than I would if I were dead.”

The other women quoted in the story describe life-saving operations for ectopic pregnancy and incomplete miscarriage and claim with no evidence, that “people like me will die” now that abortion “rights” are being restricted.

As for the AGU, it is not confining its focus to abortion when it comes to choosing a venue for its conference. At a recent meeting discussing alternatives to Louisiana, “those present talked about attendees’ comfort levels at conference venues where abortion rights, immigration policies and LGBT+ issues might be a concern.” A previous AGU meeting was relocated from Bermuda to Stockholm, Sweden, after Bermuda passed a law banning same-sex “marriage".