How Abortion and Maternal health are two sides of the same coin
Like many clinics, the center is now WAWC Healthcare–a free and sliding scale reproductive and sexual health center in Tuscaloosa that struggles to stay float while the local community struggles to access care. The center, which is now WAWC Healthcare, is struggling to remain afloat as the community struggles to get care. The holistic approach to reproductive healthcare is crucial to addressing the challenges we face. Many maternity units and hospital have closed in Alabama, and more are on the verge of closure. According to a March of Dimes 2023 report, 34.4 percent of Alabama’s counties were deemed maternity deserts. This makes it difficult for women to access preventive, postpartum, and prenatal care. Alabama is also one of only ten states that have not adopted Medicaid expansions, leaving many residents uninsured.
That’s not all. Alabama has the highest rate of cesarean sections in the nation, partly due to a lack of continuous and culturally competent healthcare. Alabama has also made it difficult for people who are trying to provide care in the midst of this crisis. The state has mandated that every pregnancy must be carried to term, in one of America’s most dangerous areas to give birth. It is inexcusable that Alabama legislators, who have no medical training, skills, or backgrounds, force people to give birth and keep their pregnancies, despite the fact that the state already has the worst maternal outcomes in the nation. In 2022, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe’s ruling, many states began enforcing restrictions on abortions and in some cases, outright bans. The lawmakers behind these changes pushed a narrative of “protecting life.” But two years later, we’re seeing what we knew would happen: States with the most restrictive abortion laws have the worst maternal and infant health outcomes, particularly for Black women.
Places like Western Alabama Women’s Clinic get creative while state governments continue to force people to give birth and refuse to support midwives, refuse to enact policies that would reduce mortality rates, refuse to expand health insurance, and allow a dangerous lack of access to care to continue.
This correlation is not a coincidence, but a direct consequence of policies that undermine people’s autonomy over their bodies and health. The repercussions are dire, and just another facet of the maternal health crisis, which disproportionately affects marginalized communities and exacerbates existing disparities in health-care access and outcomes.
What’s happening in Alabama is also taking place in Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and elsewhere. In states that ban abortions, women are three times as likely to die in pregnancy, childbirth, or the first year after giving birth. Black women are still the most affected by maternal health concerns. Louisianans are being forced to undergo risky procedures including unnecessary c sections, because providers do not want to be mistaken as providing abortion care due the the state’s new ban. It’s bad, and it’ll get worse. We knew that restrictive legislation on abortion contributed to poor maternal outcomes. You cannot claim to care about life if you ignore facts in front of your face. The unknown is not a cover. The alarm bells were ringing loudly to warn of the devastating effects of removing the Roe protections. If the states want to enforce pregnancy in a political way, then they must create an infrastructure that will care for upcoming pregnancies. This is especially true for areas with high maternal mortality. It’s incredibly shortsighted for states to force pregnancies and not take any measures to reduce harm. It’s for this reason that places like Western Alabama Women’s Clinic, which is located in Birmingham, are important. While state governments force women to give birth, they get creative. They refuse to support midwives and refuse to implement policies that reduce mortality rates. They also refuse to expand insurance and continue a dangerous lack access to care. It’s not that you are pro-life when you ban abortion, but rather you are against the death and harm already happening in your state due to the increased risks. How many people who have families and full lives need to die for something to be done?
