As abortion laws go up, maternity care goes down

Abtreasure in rural obstetrics and gynecologic care: Idaho bans abortion at any point in a pregnancy

The departures may result in new maternity care deserts, or areas that lack any maternity care, and they are placing strains on physicians like Dr. Gustafson who are left behind. The effects are particularly pronounced in rural areas, where many hospitals are shuttering obstetrics units for economic reasons. The problem of abortion is worse now because of restrictive abortion laws.

“This isn’t an issue about abortion,” said Dr. Stella Dantas, the president-elect of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “This is an issue about access to comprehensive obstetric and gynecologic care. It’s important that everybody has access to care that’s based in science.

Idaho bars abortion at any point in a pregnancy with just two exceptions: when it is necessary to save the life of the mother and in certain cases of rape or incest, though the victim must provide a police report. A judge in federal court issued a temporary order allowing abortion when health is at risk. Doctors found to have violated the ban will face up to five years in prison.

The Story of Abortion Traveling in Different States, and the Impact on Medicaid and Prescription Access in West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky

If you are interested in the story of people traveling, then the numbers tell a lot, according to an data scientist at the Guttmacher Institute.

“The percentage increase, I think, is also important because it does speak to the potential strain this puts on providers capacity to provide care,” he says.

There were increases in the bordering states of Montana and Wyoming, which have not made it known that they are suitable for access. Ohio, which has a ban on hold, saw a slight increase. West Virginia and Kentucky both have no abortion access.

If a state has an abortion ban, there can be very few abortions if they meet certain exceptions. In 2020, there will be about 4,800 abortions per month in Texas, which is an increase from this year’s four. (A lawsuit alleges that Texas’s medical emergency exception is too narrow and prevents or delays care that’s medically indicated.)

He also notes that not all of the changes can be traced directly to last year’s Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. “2020 was a long time ago and a lot has happened since then,” he says. The rise of overall abortions as well as the COVID pandemic contributed to how abortion numbers have changed in different states.

One big caveat of this research is that it only measured abortions that happened in clinics, hospitals and doctor’s offices, Maddow-Zimet says. “We don’t attempt to measure the number of self-managed abortions where a person can get pills from a pharmacy out of the country, or from a community network,” he says.