The infant death rate has increased by 7% across the U.S. since the Supreme Court passed the Dobbs decision, which allowed states to restrict abortion access and reproductive care. The same pediatric study found the mortality rate increased by 10% for infants born with health complications. This is just one study in a growing field of evidence that points out the dangerous contradictions of so-called pro-life, or anti-abortion, policies. Even before the Dobbs ruling, studies showed the death rate of mothers in states with abortion restrictions was 62% higher than in states without them.
Women, scientists, and doctors have long spoken about the harms of limiting reproductive healthcare, yet the politicians and judges who deny people access to abortions are not held accountable for the harmful laws they pass or support. It is not only the millionaire Supreme Court justices and billionaire President Trump who are to blame for the passage of harmful, anti-abortion laws, but the wealthy corporate leaders, politicians, and their think tanks who choreographed Trump’s Supreme Court nominations. Quality healthcare is ensured to these politicians and judges by their wealth, while it is poor and working women, and their families, who suffer the most from inaccessible abortions and healthcare. A 2024 study shows that 35% of U.S. counties do not have an obstetrician clinician or birth center, and in these counties, the median household income is 15.6% lower than in counties with access to maternal care. The same report shows 11.6% of women of reproductive age are uninsured, and therefore lack access to quality prenatal and obstetric care. The economic barriers to healthcare exist at higher rates for Black and Latina women, who are uninsured at 1.5 and 2.7 times the rate of white women respectively. Limiting reproductive healthcare does not just affect the person seeking an abortion, but can also lead to major consequences like death, poor health outcomes, or social and economic stresses that impact entire families and communities.
With a second-term Trump presidency on the horizon, abortion restrictions and potential cuts for Medicare loom, and it is clear we cannot wait another four years to change the course of health and reproductive care—the lives of women, children, and working-class people are at risk now! And people are indicating that they want access to reproductive care: in the ten states where protecting reproductive healthcare was on the ballot, seven states passed these measures. Even in those states that did not pass abortion rights initiatives, they failed by small margins, with Florida even voting in favor of the protection measure but just short of the 60% threshold.
The wealth exists to provide healthcare for all, but it is hoarded by the wealthiest people—the top ten U.S. billionaires own a collective $1.4 trillion, and the richest 5% of U.S. citizens hold 66% of the country’s wealth. Anti-abortion policies are not pro-life, and neither is the private healthcare system! It is up to us to fight for a system that puts our health before the wealth of a few.
Data: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “National Center for Health Statistics Mortality Data on CDC WONDER,” last updated Dec. 22, 2021.
Source: Eugene Declercq et al., The U.S. Maternal Health Divide: The Limited Maternal Health Services and Worse Outcomes of States Proposing New Abortion Restrictions (Commonwealth Fund, Dec. 2022). https://doi.org/10.26099/z7dz-8211
