Access to Abortion and Maternity Care in the United States
Over 1.7 million women, nearly 3% of women of reproductive age in the United States, live in a county without access to abortion and with no access to maternity care, according to an analysis from ABC News and Boston Children’s Hospital.
The data reflect an ongoing trend in maternal health in the U.S. found in previous research: places that restrict abortion also have fewer doctors providing care to pregnant people. Those states also have higher rates of maternal mortality and infant death, prior research shows.
“The same states that are most likely to be restrictive are also states that have been providing minimal services for a long time to women,” says Eugene Declercq, a professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, who studies maternal mortality.
Analysis of Access to Abortion and Maternity Care
ABC News compared new data from the March of Dimes on maternity care deserts in the U.S. with data, originally published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, on counties without access to abortion within a 60-minute drive since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in June of 2022.
The March of Dimes considers a county a maternity care desert if it does not have any obstetric providers and does not have any hospitals and birth centers offering obstetric care. It considers a county to have low access to maternity care if it has fewer than two hospitals or birth centers that offer obstetric care and fewer than 60 obstetric providers per 10,000 births.
The analysis showed that around 3.7 million — or 5.8% — of women of reproductive age in the U.S. live in a ‘double desert’ county that the March of Dimes considers having low access to maternity care or that is a maternity care desert, and that has no access to abortion services. Around 1.7 million women of reproductive age live in a county the March of Dimes considers a maternity care desert and do not have access to abortion.
All current ‘double deserts.’
March of Dimes, ABC News
Consequences of Limited Access to Abortion and Maternity Care
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Relevant to the Issues Discussed in the Article1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?
- SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
- SDG 5: Gender Equality
2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?
- SDG 3.1: By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births.
- SDG 3.7: By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information, and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programs.
- SDG 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.
3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?
- Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) per 100,000 live births
- Access to abortion services
- Access to maternity care (obstetric providers, hospitals, birth centers)
Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
| SDGs | Targets | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being | 3.1: By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births. | Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) per 100,000 live births |
| SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being | 3.7: By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information, and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programs. | Access to abortion services |
| 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences. | Access to maternity care (obstetric providers, hospitals, birth centers) |
Note: The indicators mentioned in the article are implied based on the issues discussed. The article provides data on the number of women living in counties without access to abortion and maternity care, which can be used as indicators to measure progress towards the targets.
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Source: abcnews.go.com
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