A dramatic rise in pregnant women dying in Texas after abortion ban
Category: News & Politics
Via: krishna • 2 months ago • 40 commentsBy: By Erika Edwards, Zinhle Essamuah and Jason Kane
Photo: Kaitlyn Kash and her husband, Cory, at home with their two children.NBC News
Related:
TRUMP SAYS WOMEN WHO GET ABORTIONS SHOULD BE PUNISHED
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The number of women in Texas who died while pregnant, during labor or soon after childbirth skyrocketed following the state’s 2021 ban on abortion care — far outpacing a slower rise in maternal mortality across the nation , a new investigation of federal public health data finds.
From 2019 to 2022, the rate of maternal mortality cases in Texas rose by 56%, compared with just 11% nationwide during the same time period, according to an analysis by the Gender Equity Policy Institute. The nonprofit research group scoured publicly available reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and shared the analysis exclusively with NBC News..
“There’s only one explanation for this staggering difference in maternal mortality,” said Nancy L. Cohen, president of the GEPI. “All the research points to Texas’ abortion ban as the primary driver of this alarming increase.”
“Texas, I fear, is a harbinger of what’s to come in other states,” she said.
The SB 8 effect
The Texas Legislature banned abortion care as early as five weeks into pregnancy in September 2021, nearly a year before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — the case that protected a federal right to abortion — in June 2022.
At the time, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, lauded the bill as a measure that “ensures the life of every unborn child.”
Texas law now prohibits all abortion except to save the life of the mother.
The passage of Texas’ Senate Bill 8 gave GEPI researchers the opportunity to take an early look at how near-total bans on abortion — including cases in which the mother’s life was in danger — affected the health and safety of pregnant women.
The SB 8 effect, Cohen’s team found, was swift and stark. Within a year, maternal mortality rose in all racial groups studied.
While maternal mortality spiked overall during the pandemic, women dying while pregnant or during childbirth rose consistently in Texas following the state’s ban on abortion, according to the Gender Equity Policy Institute.
“If you deny women abortions, more women are going to be pregnant, and more women are going to be forced to carry a pregnancy to term,” Cohen said.
Beyond the immediate dangers of pregnancy and childbirth, there is growing evidence that women living in states with strict abortion laws, such as Texas, are far more likely to go without prenatal care and much less likely to find an appointment with an OB-GYN.
Doctors say the feeling among would-be moms is fear.
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The number of women in Texas who died while pregnant, during labor or soon after childbirth skyrocketed following the state’s 2021 ban on abortion care — far outpacing a slower rise in maternal mortality across the nation , a new investigation of federal public health data finds.
From 2019 to 2022, the rate of maternal mortality cases in Texas rose by 56%, compared with just 11% nationwide during the same time period, according to an analysis by the Gender Equity Policy Institute.
“There’s only one explanation for this staggering difference in maternal mortality,” said Nancy L. Cohen, president of the GEPI. “All the research points to Texas’ abortion ban as the primary driver of this alarming increase.”
Where is Ann Richards when she is really needed?
I remember Ann Richards! (That seems like so long ago!
It was long ago. I was in an audience where she spoke when she was governor. She was fantastic.
Where was that?
It was at a conference my ex-wife and I attended in Dallas. Second time I was in Dallas. I will never forget the steak I ate at the Trail Dust - good thing I wasn't wearing a tie.
[Shakes head] Who didn't see this coming? Except Texas apparently.
The Texas Legislature banned abortion care as early as five weeks into pregnancy in September 2021, nearly a year before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — the case that protected a federal right to abortion — in June 2022.
At the time, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, lauded the bill as a measure that “ensures the life of every unborn child.” Texas law now prohibits all abortion except to save the life of the mother.
“Texas, I fear, is a harbinger of what’s to come in other states,” she said.
Texas sure has changed since I was last there.
So, people in other states are going to vote for the same restrictions? If the Gender Equity Policy Institute is correct, why would people vote for a 5 week restriction?
Beyond the immediate dangers of pregnancy and childbirth, there is growing evidence that women living in states with strict abortion laws, such as Texas, are far more likely to go without prenatal care and much less likely to find an appointment with an OB-GYN.
Doctors say the feeling among would-be moms is fear.
And fear morphs into hatred.
But in Texas, the lives of women are irrelevant.
True.
(But weird!)
Not so, Krishna, as long as they're barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen.
They appear to be irrelevant to the majority of republicans including their lord and savior trump.
And in Alabama. And Florida. And Georgia, ect.
Is the claim that the increase in mortality is directly caused by pregnancy? Statistics concerning "women dying while pregnant, during childbirth or soon after" doesn't really point to pregnancy as a cause of death.
If pregnancy is that dangerous then shouldn't we be doing more to prevent pregnancy? Why doesn't the liberal imperative to outlaw activities that cause injury and death apply in this situation? Public safety has been cited as justification to regulate and ban tobacco, alcohol, guns, and, even, Sudafed. We have made failure to wear seat belts a crime. We're forced to recycle or face charges. We can't remove labels from bedding under penalty of law. We have to have warning labels on products for every stupid thing people can do.
But we can't regulate sex even though the risks and dangers are obvious? The data alluded to in this seed article proves that sex kills. The government can be in our kitchens, bathrooms, and garages to protect us. The bedroom is just down the hall; why can't government protect us there, too?
Definitely a good idea!
BTW I recently saw an article that some state (I forget which one) was debating whether or not to pass a law mandatings that some forms of Internet content would be required to put a warning it that it was not suitable for children under a certain age (IIRC it was 16 years of age..?)
Your thoughts?
Oh but it already does!
It’s illegal to “seduce and debauch” an unmarried woman in Michigan.
An archaic law in Michigan, which has been on the books since 1931, states that , “Any man who shall seduce and debauch any unmarried woman shall be guilty of a felony.” If found guilty, the man can be punished with up to five years in the state prison or a fine of not more than $2500. Being such an imprecise law, it's rarely used. But lawyers have used it as a loophole to protect their clients from stronger charges.
Here's another "bedroom related" law where a government is trying to protect us:
It’s technically illegal to flirt in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
The General Legislation of Haddon Township, New Jersey, seems to suggest that flirting is illegal. Under the section “ Peace and Good Order ,” a person may be punished for approaching “any person of the opposite sex unknown to such person and by word, sign or gesture attempts to speak to or to become acquainted with such person against his will.” While this law seeks to punish objectionable actions such as sexual harassment and catcalling, it can technically be seen as prohibiting harmless flirting . So tread carefully if you’re going to flirt in Haddon Township.
And of course no list of weird laws weird governments use to "protect us" would be complete witout a mention of Texas (which seems to be particulary fond of big government interfering in peoples' lives):
In Texas, the possession of more than six dildos is prohibited.
A Texas statute known as the Obscene Device Law declares it a crime to possess “six or more obscene devices or identical or similar obscene articles.” These infernal devices include dildos. So, in Texas, you can legally own more guns—and display them in public—than you can sex toys, as some dildo-wielding campaigners have pointed out.
Dumbest comment of the day.
One thing regressives have always had trouble coming to terms with is that pregnancy - while natural, and usually desirable - can be dangerous - even deadly - for the woman. Unfortunately, a bunch of power hungry men with no medical training or experience of living as a woman keep trying to regulate the health of women.
Lol. The article premised on deaths that occurred before a law was passed were caused by that law takes that prize.
NBC really banks on it's readers being unable to think.
I agree the analysis is flawed. My comment was not about that.
NBC really banks ….
WTF???
"If pregnancy is that dangerous then shouldn't we be doing more to prevent pregnancy?"
I get so sick of that tired useless 'argument' usually from 'men'. Whoever it is from.
What do you need explained?
Other things that are dangerous: construction work, law enforcement, firefighting. Maybe we should stop building things, stop arresting criminals, and stop putting out fires.
I swear a person would have to get up in the morning and overdose on the stupid pills to use “logic” like this.
Liberals have been championing comprehensive sex education for years but conservatives poo poo it and have literally thrown it out the window in southern states.
Yeah, liberals have been promoting promiscuity since Woodstock. You know, the sexual revolution was intended as part of the political effort to liberate women. Liberals have even championed abortion as a way of liberating women from biological constraints.
It has nothing to do with promiscuity
What's wrong with that? People generally enjoy sex.
As predicted, and about time Texas turns blue...
Rumor has it that people using more than six dildos in Texas started to turn blue there-- but fortunately in their infinite wisdom, the powers that be passed a law forbidding the possession of more than six Dildoes!
(See comment # 5.2.2 , above)
On a more serious note (or at least a bit more significant than Texas' government controlfreaks' attempt to control their population via a bizarre Dildo law)-- some people are saying that longtime Texas Senator Ted Cruz may possibly lose his bid for re-election:
Ted Cruz Losing to Colin Allred for First Time: Texas Poll
Get me an AR-15, a pickup truck, a pair of cowboy boots and a wife I can keep pregnant and maybe I could qualify to be a Texan too. Oh, you mean I have to be an American citizen?
Roevember is coming.
Backward, but it is Texas.