A leading pro-life medical organization just refuted a popular claim about pro-life laws increasing the maternal mortality rate.
The assertion, promoted on MSNBC and CNN, is not true, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) responded this week.
Early Centers for Disease Control data shows a decline in maternal deaths since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the highest maternal mortality rates in the U.S. are among groups that also have the highest abortion rates, the doctors organization said.
“The baseless narrative that the U.S.’s poor maternal health is attributable to abortion regulations only serves to harm women,” AAPLOG said in a statement provided to LifeNews.
This week, reports from several major news outlets attempted to connect a 2021 surge in maternal deaths to the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe in June 2022. Because of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, states may protect unborn babies from abortion again, and more than a dozen already have done so. Several more states are fighting in court to enforce their laws.
The purpose of these laws – and the pro-life movement – is to stop elective abortions and save lives. Thousands of medical professionals support states’ bans on elective abortions precisely because the laws protect both mothers and unborn babies.
But the pro-abortion movement is trying to convince the public otherwise.
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AAPLOG said its latest claim about maternal mortality is not backed by the data. In 2021 when maternal deaths rose in the U.S., “abortion was more accessible than ever, with the FDA having green-lit telemedicine abortion,” the organization explained. In late 2021, Texas became the first state to enforce a heartbeat law, but all 49 other states still allowed abortion on demand up to viability.
Racial demographics also contradict the narrative. Those “with the highest abortion rate regularly have the highest” maternal mortality rate, too, AAPLOG continued. For example, the abortion rate among African American women is four times higher than the overall rate, and they also have a disproportionately high maternal mortality rate compared to other races.
“Clearly abortion does not improve maternal mortality …” the doctors organization continued. “Women deserve better than a band-aid solution to their health problems.”
Additionally, preliminary data from the CDC appears to show a drop in maternal mortality numbers since states began protecting unborn babies from abortion, AAPLOG said. And in Poland and Malta, where elective abortions are banned, their maternal mortality rates are among the lowest in the world; the same was true of Ireland before it legalized abortion in 2018.
The pro-life doctors said maternal mortality is a serious problem, and addressing maternal healthcare, socioeconomic inequality, extended coverage of health insurance to one year postpartum and quality institutional protocols for management of common pregnancy complications will go a long way to helping save mothers’ lives. But legalizing abortion is not the solution.
“Promoting the intentional killing of embryonic or fetal human beings will do nothing to help their mothers thrive,” AAPLOG said. “The false narrative that it does harms the women they purport to care about. It serves a political agenda – not women and girls. Our patients deserve better.”
Pro-life laws save lives: mothers and babies. In Texas alone, a new study by Johns Hopkins found that nearly 10,000 more babies were born after its heartbeat law went into effect in 2021. Since the Dobbs ruling, researchers believe tens of thousands more babies also have been saved.
Meanwhile, there have not been any reports of pregnant mothers dying because of pro-life laws. Every abortion ban or restriction includes clear language that protects pregnant mothers as well as their unborn babies. Pro-life laws include exceptions to save the life of the mother and allow miscarriage care.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade will lead to more lives being saved – a fact that abortion activists want Americans to ignore. Currently, 15 states are enforcing pro-life laws that ban or heavily restrict the killing of unborn babies in abortions, and more are fighting in court to do the same.
