Carolyn Graham says her daughter Ciji would still be alive if North Carolina had more ways to help women with high-risk pregnancies in health emergencies.
Ciji Graham, a Greensboro police officer who had a heart condition, died in November 2023 while pregnant. Doctors sent her home without treating her rapid heartbeat because of her pregnancy, and she was unable to quickly obtain an abortion because of new restrictions that were enacted in North Carolina a few months earlier.
ProPublica reported this year on Graham’s efforts to find treatment as her heart raced and her health declined.
Graham’s family was in the state Senate gallery to hear Sen. Natalie Murdock (D-Durham) talk about a bill she sponsored, named in Ciji Graham’s honor, to help save the lives of other women with high-risk pregnancies.
Murdock said Graham would likely still be alive if she had received different care, but she wasn’t able to find it.
“When the minutes really matter, the system unfortunately failed her,” Murdock said. “So we filed legislation to ensure that no woman or family has to navigate a high-risk pregnancy alone without clear and timely care.”
Senate Bill 907 would set up a program to help people with high-risk pregnancies quickly find appropriate care. It would also establish a hotline to connect medical providers with specialists for consultations.
Under the bill, people with high-risk pregnancies who want to continue them would be referred to specialists in obstetrics or fetal medicine. Those seeking abortions, or where abortions are medically necessary, would be referred to providers to the extent that state law allows.
Federal judge won’t stop NC’s 12-week abortion ban from starting July 1
In 2023, North Carolina banned most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion is legal at any stage when a doctor determines there is a medical emergency. But some healthcare providers in North Carolina and other states with similar abortion restrictions have been hesitant to use that exception, fearing legal repercussions.
Murdock said in an interview that she’s not looking for a vote on the bill this year, but intends for it to be the foundation for a proposal she hopes will pass in future sessions. She is still collecting feedback to refine the ideas.
“With these big, different ideas, we have to workshop them, and that can take a few sessions,” she said. “But that’s why we want to go ahead and get it out there.”
Ciji’s son, Shawn Scott Jr., was a toddler when she died. He’s now four. He and his father Shawn Sr., Ciji’s sisters Casey and Chevala, and Shawn Sr.’s mother Bobbie Jordan sat with Carolyn Graham in the gallery overlooking the Senate floor.
The family said they are collectively raising Shawn Jr.
In an interview, Carolyn Graham recounted talking to Ciji after a doctor’s appointment where she was sent home despite her racing heart.
“You don’t send a pregnant woman home with a heart rate that fast,” Carolyn Graham said.
Ciji could barely catch her breath, her mother said. “She was scared.”
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