Kavitha Surana
I have been reporting on changes to reproductive health care access since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Need to Get in Touch?
What I Cover
I have been reporting on changes to reproductive health care access since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
I regularly speak with doctors, patients, researchers, community workers and lawmakers to better understand how maternal health care has been affected by abortion restrictions. Learn more about how ProPublica covers maternal health and how to get in touch.
My Background
I joined ProPublica as a national reporter in 2022. Since then, I have investigated the consequences of state abortion bans for people facing life-threatening pregnancy complications, including uncovering deaths that could have been prevented, and a rise in maternal sepsis rates in Texas after the state banned abortion.
The reporting led to a federal investigation and spurred lawmakers in multiple states to file bills expanding abortion access. I interviewed experts across the country to help create a guide on the medical procedures that could save your life during a pregnancy loss.
My reporting has taken me inside a hospital abortion committee and a private meeting between anti-abortion activists urging Republican lawmakers not to change a strict ban.
I also spent a year partnering with a photographer to document one family’s struggle to navigate Tenneessee’s social safety net after being denied an abortion for a life-threatening pregnancy.
Before joining ProPublica, I reported on housing, law enforcement and health care inequality at the Tampa Bay Times and BuzzFeed News. I was previously a 2018 fellow at ProPublica covering immigration.
I got my start in international journalism. I interned at the Associated Press in Rome and was a fellow at Foreign Policy magazine. I speak Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French, and I’ve reported from Italy, Germany, Rwanda, Colombia and Senegal.
Authorities Can Now Deny Visa and Green Card Applications Without Giving Applicants a Chance to Fix Errors
Immigration lawyers call the policy change, which kicks in today, another brick in Trump’s “invisible wall” to make legal immigration as difficult as possible.
Recuperó a su bebé del centro de acogida de inmigración. Y, ¿ahora qué?
Una madre indocumentada volvió a encontrarse con su hija. Las primeras treinta y seis horas fueron una combinación de alegría, preguntas acerca de su separación e inquietudes acerca del futuro.
She Got Her Baby Back From Immigration Foster Care. Now What?
An undocumented mother was reunited with her daughter. The first 36 hours brought a mix of joy, questions about the separation and worries about the future.
Una bebé fue separada de su tío en la frontera. Tres meses después, su madre todavía está tratando de recuperarla.
El caso de Liah Ferrera Amaya muestra el exhaustivo proceso de revisión al que las familias inmigrantes deben someterse para recuperar a sus hijos de la custodia de los EEUU — incluso si eso significa arriesgarse a la deportación.
A Baby Was Separated From Her Uncle at the Border. Three Months Later, Her Mother Is Still Trying to Get Her Back.
The case of Liah Ferrera Amaya shows the extensive vetting immigrant families must submit to in order to retrieve their children from U.S. custody — even if it means putting themselves at risk for deportation.
“Solo quiero decirle que lo amo”
Los padres recluidos en centros de detención migratoria sin sus hijos dicen que los teléfonos apenas funcionan y aún no saben cuándo volverán a ver a sus hijos, casi dos semanas después de que la administración Trump declarara que puso fin a la separación familiar en la frontera.
“I Just Want to Tell My Son I Love Him”
Parents held in immigration detention without their kids say the phones barely work and they still don’t know when they will see their children again, almost two weeks after the Trump administration declared it ended family separation at the border.
Here’s What It’s Like to Work at a Shelter for Immigrant Kids
Some facilities are so overstretched, employees often wait hours for a break to go to the bathroom.
Pennsylvania State Police Adding Oversight to Troopers’ Interactions With ICE
Officers must now file a report when they call federal agencies. Meanwhile, Trooper Luke C. Macke continues to detain immigrants for ICE.
How Racial Profiling Goes Unchecked in Immigration Enforcement
A Pennsylvania judge heard uncontested evidence that ICE agents violated constitutional rights during an arrest last year, but that wasn’t enough to stop deportation proceedings.