United States: In states where abortion is prohibited or limited, pregnant women have worse access to health care, according to a new study.
In those states, pregnant women more frequently lack insurance and are less likely to receive regular medical care, the researchers said in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
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That is largely because of the stingy Medicaid programs in abortion-ban states, researchers add.
According to the lead researcher, Dr. Adam Gaffney, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, “Many state governments are coercing women into continuing unwanted pregnancies, yet also maintain barriers that keep them from getting needed pregnancy care,” US News reported.
“These care gaps will get worse if Congress goes ahead with slashing Medicaid,” Gaffney added.
The researchers used data on almost 21,000 pregnant women who took part in an annual health survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments.
The numbers dated 2014-2022, the year the US Supreme Court overruled the right to abortion in its Dobbs ruling.
According to the data, researchers predict that in 2022, almost 260,000 pregnant women were unprotected, and 62 percent of them resided in abortion-ban states.
The three states with the highest proportion of uncovered pregnant women were Texas (21 percent), Arkansas (19 percent), and Florida (19 percent) – three states that have prohibited or severely limited abortion.
At the national level, expectant mothers in states that banned or limited abortion were much more likely to lack insurance coverage – 15 percentage points compared to 10 percent, according to the findings.
They were also more apt to say that they could not afford a doctor (20% versus 13%) and that they did not have a personal health care provider (29% versus 22%).