A Tennessee Woman Had to Take a 6-Hour Ambulance Ride to Get an Abortion

The woman’s doctor in Tennessee, Leilah Zahedi-Spung, is a high-risk obstetrician who spoke to the WSJ for a story about how abortion bans impact medical emergencies. Zahedi-Spung said the patient was in her second trimester when her blood pressure began rising; the fetus had been diagnosed with genetic abnormalities and wasn’t expected to survive. Zahedi-Spung … Read more

The doctors leaving anti-abortion states: ‘I couldn’t do my job at all’

Doctors are on the frontlines of this chaotic landscape, fearful of running afoul of ever-changing law, in some cases struggling to provide life-saving care. In most cases, doctors have stayed in abortion-restrictive states, because despite restrictions on their medical practice, they have ties to their patients, their communities, their families. But others have decided to … Read more

America’s increasingly atrocious access to maternity care, explained in 3 charts

All told, about 900 Americans died in 2020 from complications related to childbirth. Another 50,000 or more women experienced severe pregnancy-related complications. Four of five of those deaths were from preventable causes. In terms of scale and rate, America’s maternal mortality dwarfs the issues of other wealthy countries, and these gaps in maternity care shoulder … Read more

Millions of Americans are losing access to maternal care. Here’s what can be done

The data for the study — and the concerns it raises — predate the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, says Dr. Zsakeba Henderson, March of Dimes’ senior vice president and interim chief medical and health officer. She says there isn’t enough data yet to show the impact of Dobbs, but acknowledges there … Read more