Texas was one of the first states to pass a “trigger law” that outlaws abortion in most situations 30 days after the Supreme Court ruled Roe v. Wade. Unconstitutional. When a draft court opinion overturning Law leaked in May, Republicans said they were preparing for the next step: strengthening health care and other services for women and children. “It just makes sense,” Congressman Steve Toss told reporters. “The dog has just caught the car.”
Rep. Giovanni Caprilione agreed. “We now have to work really hard to help these new moms and these new babies.” For Toss, “It means prenatal care and they stay in school. Help. That means ensuring that we help women once the baby is born, which means adoption services. “
For Texas mothers facing post-low But the world now has huge mountains to climb to find its help. In recent years, the state has been ranked 40th in the country for maternal mortality and 49th for children with health insurance in terms of maternal health. The hiring rate is 22nd. It was a very conservative expression that Texas really needed to work hard to help its mother and baby.
Texas is certainly not alone. The Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive health, has counted 26 states that said the Supreme Court banned abortion when it ruled in June, or said it was likely to do so soon after. Own prohibition.
Compared to states that are likely to continue to allow abortions, 26 abortion-prohibited states insure only two-thirds of children under the age of 18. Maternal mortality is two-thirds higher. Infant mortality is 30 percent higher. Their average ranking in one of the most comprehensive healthcare performance comparisons conducted by the Commonwealth Fund is only half as high.
The difference also spreads to other health problems. For example, states pursuing an abortion ban have a 30% higher COVID-19 mortality rate than states that allow abortion. Their COVID-19 vaccination rate is 15 percentage points behind the state vaccination rate expected to continue to allow abortion. In states where abortion is prohibited, more than 25% of people have poor dental and oral health. More than a quarter of children suffer from food insecurity. And of the 12 states that haven’t expanded their Medicaid programs under affordable care laws, 10 have abortion bans.
As always in American federalism, there are even changes between states that ban abortion and states that are expected to continue to allow it. Infant mortality in Iowa, which bans abortion after 22 weeks, is 4.27 per 1000 live births, well below the average for all states that ban or are expected to have an abortion. increase. In comparison, North Carolina’s infant mortality rate, which allows abortion, is 6.76 per 1000 live births, well above the average for abortion-allowed states. In West Virginia, a state that bans abortion, maternal mortality is 12.9 per 100,000 population, half the average for all states that ban abortion. Maternal mortality in New Jersey, which allows abortion, is 38.1 per 100,000, more than double the average for abortion-allowed states.
However, a clear situation emerges when comparing all states where abortion is banned or expected to be enacted with states where procedures are expected to remain legal.
Therefore, the trigger state promise to help new mothers and babies is far behind their performance. In most cases, catching up will require huge investments in healthcare among states that do not want or have already proven unable to significantly increase spending in that category. increase.
The federal government has a grant program available for many of these challenges. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services has a $ 350 million program to “support safe pregnancies and healthy babies,” as HHS states, and is an ongoing block for maternal and child health. There is a grant program. There are many other initiatives, from CDC studies to newborn screening and National Institutes of Health-sponsored studies. Federal efforts amount to billions of dollars.
Nonetheless, there is something that the March of Dimes calls the “Maternity Care Desert” across the country. It is a place where women do not have sufficient access to maternity care. As a result, the organization concludes that serious health problems and mortality rates for both mothers and babies are high. Also, the United States does not work well in international comparisons. Maternal mortality rates in other high-income countries are double, in fact 10 times higher than in New Zealand and Norway.
A major national issue in providing medical care to mothers and babies is a very important inside story of the Supreme Court’s decision at Dobbs vs. Jackson, and the basic point cannot be escaped: abortion in most cases. The states that are creating bans are far behind them, allowing abortions in general health care, especially for mothers and children. Some members of the abortion ban may be sincere in their promise to do more for their mothers and babies, but there is a long way to go to catch up.
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