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THE HARM CAUSED BY ABORTION BANS

THREATS TO LIFE, HEALTH, AND WELL-BEING

Did you know that the current Texas abortion law puts mothers’ lives at risk because it is so poorly written? Lifesaving medical treatment is being delayed because the methods for treating miscarriage and ectopic pregnancies are the same as those for performing an abortion.  Health care providers fear prosecution and civil lawsuits.  Meanwhile the delay in treatment can lead to serious suffering from pain, blood loss, infection, and death. Forced pregnancy is more dangerous than abortion, especially since Texas women do not have good access to postnatal and prenatal care. Those least able to bear the costs of unplanned pregnancy, low income and women of color are most likely to be affected by the change in the law.

The only way to stop this is for you to vote in November to protect women’s rights to control over their own bodies.

  • The Texas law is poorly written
    • The language is so vague in the Texas law, physicians and health care providers fear criminal and legal penalties if their professional  judgment does not fit the interpretation of local officials.  For example,  the law doesn’t define what constitutes life threatening.  A recent article that quoted physicians under condition of anonymity said that they fear being charged under this law, and they believed that their institutions would not support their treatment decisions. The consequences of such hesitancy can be seen in the case of a Texas mother who had two back-to-back miscarriages.  She said that the treatment she received was entirely different after the law was passed banning abortion.   The first miscarriage she was given a D&C, the second miscarriage they refused that treatment.  Instead, she was told, “to return (to the hospital) only if she was bleeding so excessively that her blood filled a diaper more than once an hour.  She said that she spent hours in excruciating pain while her husband comforted her rather than receiving the care she needed.  This was even though her hospital records showed the fetus did not have a heartbeat.

Learn More

Texas Abortion Laws – FindLaw   

They Had Miscarriages, and New Abortion Laws Obstructed Treatment – The New York Times (nytimes.com) 

How Doctors Are Weighing the Legal Risks of Abortion Care (webmd.com)

      • Forced pregnancy is more dangerous than abortion, which is made worse due to the lack of access to health care for pregnant women. While maternal deaths have been declining in all other developed countries, deaths in the United States are increasing.  Maternal death rates are 17 per 100,000 in the US compared to 3 per 100,000 in New Zealand, the Netherlands and Norway.
      • Texas women may not have access to prenatal care because of lack of health insurance.  One in four Texas women of reproductive age (ages 19 to 44) do not have health insurance, which can mean inadequate and unaffordable prenatal care.
      • Texas women lack the follow up care needed to ensure a successful birth.  The United States has a shortage of midwives and OB Gyn physicians.  We only have 12 to 15 per 1000 per live births.  Days after birth are when most Texas women die from childbirth from conditions such as excess bleeding or infection.  Most developed countries provide this carefree.

Learn More

 How Many Women Die from Illegal Abortions – The Atlantic  

Maternal Mortality Maternity Care US Compared 10 Other Countries | Commonwealth Fund

      • Problems are more widespread than we realize. For every woman in the U.S. who dies from childbirth, 70 more come close (NPR) with a serious, life-threatening health crisis that they survive.

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For Every Woman Who Dies in Childbirth in The U.S., 70 More Come Close : NPR

      • Lack of abortion is a direct threat to women’s lives. 
      • In a study of abortion in El Salvador where abortion is illegal, pregnant women die because they are not given strong medications needed to treat other conditions such as cancer. 
      • Women and girls die because doctors wait too long to treat ectopic pregnancies because they fear the eggs they remove will be considered a life, but the delay can cause infection, bleeding, infertility and even death.  
      • Women and girls die because of the elevated risk of  suicide in young girls who are desperate because they are unprepared for pregnancy.

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 Killed by abortion laws: five women whose stories we must never forget | Women’s rights and gender equality | The Guardian

      • Women of color and women who have low income are at greater risk of harm from the lack of abortion.  
      • Almost half of women who receive abortions have income below poverty (49%). 
      • Even though Black women are 13% of the population, they are 34% of women receiving abortions.  This places the greater burden of carrying unplanned pregnancies to term on women who are least likely to have the resources to do it. 
      • Women who carry unplanned pregnancies to term are at greater risk of poor health, emotional distress, financial difficulties, and intimate partner violence.

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