Beyond abortion: A timeline of reproductive health care and the true impact on women and society
This is not just about personal choice; it is about national and economic stability and the future of public health Read more at Salon
Maternity Deserts
Infant deaths continue to rise as more abortion bans are put in place, studies find
The overturn of Roe v. Wade with the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision has paved the way for legislation across the country to restrict reproductive health care. A pair of new studies shows the fallout of restrictive reproductive healthcare policies: More babies were born in states that enacted abortion bans between 2021 and 2023, and infant mortality … Read more
For many rural women, finding maternity care outweighs abortion access concerns
The push to preserve and expand abortion access in states where it’s protected often collides with ideological and health care divides between urban and rural residents. Read more at 19th News
The Texas Ob-Gyn Exodus
But the new laws were already having an effect on the health-care system. Across Texas, residency applications in ob-gyn dropped significantly. Data from the Gender Equity Policy Institute revealed a fifty-six-per-cent spike in maternal deaths in the state between 2019 and 2022. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Texas was no longer an … Read more
A Pregnant Teenager Died After Trying to Get Care in Three Visits to Texas Emergency Rooms
It took three ER visits and 20 hours before a hospital admitted Nevaeh Crain, 18, as her condition worsened. Doctors insisted on two ultrasounds to confirm “fetal demise.” She’s one of at least two Texas women who died under the state’s abortion ban. Read more at ProPublica
Inside The Mystery Of Why The Supreme Court Declined To Hear A Pressing Abortion Case
The Supreme Court has never been a transparent institution, its justices shielded from reporters’ questions and increasingly making decisions via the shadow docket without oral arguments or often any writing at all to indicate their thinking. For women risking permanent injury or death from pregnancy complications, their right to get an emergency abortion (already nonexistent … Read more
Women’s health being neglected worldwide, says Melinda French Gates
“With Roe overturned, women have been denied emergency care, maternal mortality rates have continued to rise, and maternity care deserts are becoming more common,” she said. “Of course, these challenges aren’t limited to the US – women in low- and middle-income countries have long struggled to access quality care.” Read more at The Guardian
Abortion laws are straining the OB-GYN workforce in Texas: report
Of the doctors surveyed, 76% reported that they believe they cannot practice evidence-based medicine in the state, with 60% reporting that a fear of legal repercussions is part of the reason why. Twenty-nine percent of respondents also said they don’t feel like they have a clear understanding of the abortion laws in Texas, and only … Read more
‘One death is too many’: abortion bans usher in US maternal mortality crisis
In Louisiana, doctors will no longer be able to carry a lifesaving medication with them during pregnancy emergencies. In Texas, the infant mortality rate is soaring. In Idaho, pregnant people drive hours just to give birth. And in Oklahoma and Georgia, women are bleeding out in hospital parking lots and facing dangerous infections before they … Read more
Missouri doctors say they’re tired of seeing people suffer because of the state’s abortion ban
“Why are we making people choose between their own lives and continuing a pregnancy in a forced birth situation?” It’s the reality for many patients and doctors in red states across the country. Abortion bans have resulted in a mass exodus of obstetricians that’s left thousands of pregnant people without access to care. In Idaho, … Read more