California Said No More Women Will Bleed To Death In Childbirth. The Results Are Dramatic

California Said No More Women Will Bleed To Death In Childbirth. The Results Are Dramatic

Maternal deaths in America are climbing steadily, making us an outlier against the rest of the developed world. The US is only one of 13 countries with maternal death rate increases since 1990. We stand in the company of North Korea and Zimbabwe. 

The reasons for steep rises in maternal deaths in America are several. There have been changes in how maternal deaths are reported. Efforts to correct this under-reporting are a minor reason for the current increase. While it's impossible to prove casuality conclusively, the war against Planned Parenthood has closed many women's health clinics, giving poor and middle class women no access to contraception or maternal care. 

The Republican argument that other women's health care centers will take Planned Parenthood patients is just not correct. An apparent majority of these centers don't accept Medicaid and large numbers do not offer contraception, believing that it goes against religious principles. 

Maternal death rates in Texas have soared, making the state the worst in the developed world with a doubling of deaths over a two-year-period. As lawmakers closed Planned Parenthood locations all over the state, the Texas Observer writes that lawmakers could care less if women are dying in pregnancy for lack of medical care.