Abortion Ban States Best At Killing Newborn Babies, Mothers

This is not surprising news.

The United States has the worst maternal mortality of any developed nation on earth. We are literally two spots below Romania, a country once famous for having an incredible number of orphans (thanks to the "pro-life" policies of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu). We're not doing too great on infant mortality either, ranking 33 out of 36 OECD countries. We rank 49th in the world for infant and under-five deaths combined, right below Uruguay and several spots below Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For most Americans, it's a relatively fair trade off, because at least we can say* that those who can access quality healthcare in the US have far shorter wait times than those in countries where they are more likely to survive childbirth, and many of the people in those countries don't have the freedom to choose between the insurance plan offered by their employer if they are lucky or the insurance plan offered by their employer if they are lucky. 

But it also depends where you are. California, for instance, has a maternal mortality rate of four deaths per 100,000 births, in line with such countries as Denmark and Iceland, while Louisiana has ... 58. Massachusetts has a rate of 3.7 deaths per 1,000 infants, while Mississippi's is 9.6.

In fact, as it turns out, according to a recent study from the Gender Equity Policy Institute, the states where it is most dangerous to give birth or to be an infant are the states that have banned or severely restricted abortion. In fact, those in states that banned abortion were three times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or soon after giving birth than those in states that had not — and babies born in states with bans were 30 percent more likely to die in the first month.

If we were Republicans, we might accuse them of having state-enforced, post-birth abortions.

 The study also found that:

- 6 in 10 women live in states that ban abortion or sharply limit reproductive freedom.
- 7 in 10 Black women live in states that ban or restrict abortion care.
- 1 in 4 teens live in states that banned abortion after Dobbs.
- 2x as many single mothers were uninsured in banned states than in supportive states.
- The teen birth rate was 2x as high in banned states.
- Maternal mortality nearly doubled between 2018 and 2021.
- Black women were almost 3x as likely to die in pregnancy, childbirth, or right after giving birth as white women.
- Black babies were more than 2x as likely to die in their first month of life as white babies.

Please, take a moment to pick your jaw up off the floor if you need it.

PREVIOUSLY: Anti-Abortion States Worst Places To Get Pregnant And Have Kids. Who Would Have Thought? 

 We have been over this before, of course, but we really can't ever say it enough. Especially because it is without question going to get worse as OB-GYNs and doctors flee from and turn down jobs in these states. There is a growing shortage of OB-GYNs all over the country, especially in rural areas likely to be impacted by abortion bans and restrictions. Doctors aren't going to want to risk living in states where they could lose their license or go to prison for performing necessary medical procedures.

 *The point is that we can say it, not that it's literally true. It doesn't actually matter whether or not it's true as long as people believe it and are happy. 

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