Abortion access saves lives. Without it, far too many Idaho women are losing theirs | Opinion

Abortion access saves lives. It may seem counterintuitive, but the data is clear.

Texas provides an early indicator of the trauma to come: after Texas and several other states banned abortion, Texas’ infant mortality rate rose by 8% in a single year, while the national rate increased by 2%. In general, infant mortality rates are 16% higher in states with restrictive abortion laws.

States with restrictive abortion laws have 62% higher maternal death rates than states without such laws. And with prison sentences looming like the sword of Damocles over physicians who take care of pregnant women, it is no wonder that abortion ban states are seeing a sharp drop off in applications for young physicians to take postgraduate positions in those states. According to data from the American Association of Medical Colleges, in the past year, OB/GYN applications are down by 6.7% in abortion ban states, emergency medicine applications were down 7.1% and applications to pediatric residencies dropped a stunning 17.3%. This portends poorly for the future physician workforce in abortion ban states.

Between 5% and 15% of all premature deaths (men, women and children) in the United States are attributed to inadequate healthcare access. I love Idaho, but we present a cautionary tale regarding the dangers of irresponsible anti abortion legislation.

Idaho lost 22% of our practicing obstetricians and 55% of our maternal and fetal medicine specialists in the 15 months following the enactment of Idaho’s abortion ban. Another 12% of obstetricians say that they are leaving this year and 59% of Idaho’s family practitioners are leaving or considering leaving the state. Three labor and delivery wards and a neonatal intensive care unit in Idaho have had to close.

Over half of Idaho’s counties have zero practicing obstetricians. Idaho’s maternal mortality has been trending higher at an alarming rate, nearly tripling over a 2 year period. This is unfortunately unsurprising in Idaho, the state that had to be told by the Supreme Court that denying emergency abortion services to protect a woman’s health and life violates federal law.

If the practicalities of losing healthcare in abortion-restricted states doesn’t resonate, perhaps the human consequences of abortion bans will make sense to those whose opinions derive from religious ideology, as the grief of losing a child has nothing on hellfire. Imagine knowing that the child you carry in your womb will die of a lethal developmental defect sometime in the minutes or months after birth.

Imagine being forced to carry that child to term, giving birth to her and then watching as she struggles, suffers and then dies. This nightmare scenario has become a much more common reality for parents since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade. It takes a toll on the health and well-being of families.

Parents who experience stillbirth, neonatal death or sudden infant death syndrome have a 1,400% increased rate of developing anxiety and 1,200% increased rate of depression. Being denied a wanted/needed abortion is also associated with a much higher rate of depression and anxiety than being allowed to go through with one.

A woman’s decision whether or not to end her pregnancy is complex and nuanced in ways that most of us cannot understand, and in ways that are, frankly, none of our business. People who won’t be forced to wear a mask or get a vaccine in order to protect the health of others should understand why outlawing needed healthcare for women is wrong.

I hope that Americans and Idahoans in particular have the integrity to admit that these laws are harmful and tyrannic. I hope that we have the strength to step up and fix this. We need leaders who will act decisively to undo these inhumane healthcare dictates. If your candidate will not definitively commit to reversing anti abortion laws, then it is time to vote for someone who will.