Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Joshua Turner, the lawyer for the state of Idaho, about specific, real-life scenarios where pregnant people required emergency abortions. Later, she returned to the hospital, Sotomayor said, and received an abortion "because she was about to die." Pregnancy can be dangerous, particularly in the United States, which has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the developed world. About 10% to 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage and many don’t require medical intervention, but some may require treatment using the same procedure used in an abortion. Miscarriages can put someone’s life at risk because of serious blood loss or infection if the miscarriage is not complete.

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Persons: Sonia Sotomayor, Joshua Turner, Sotomayor Organizations: American College of Obstetricians, American Locations: Idaho, Florida, United States