The public has been sold the lie that abortion keeps women safe and, by extension, reduces maternal mortality rates. We’ve been told lack of access to so-called reproductive care will kill women. During the 2024 election season, the Harris-Walz campaign pointed to President Donald Trump as a threat to women based on abortion. The data tell a different story.
Abortion lies, not abortion bans, have caused harm to women, and the maternal mortality rate is actually decreasing. Data published this month by the National Center for Health Statistics show the 2023 maternal mortality rate in the United States was “18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births.” This is a total of 669 deaths. In 2022, the rate was 22.3, which resulted in a total of 817 deaths.
Sadly, the U.S. has the highest rate of maternal deaths among developed nations. In the United Kingdom, for example, the maternal mortality rate for 2021-2023 was 12.67 per 100,000 live births. There is much work to be done to reduce our rate even further. However, a decrease is worth mentioning during a time when fearmongering is so prevalent.
Maternal mortality rates vary widely by ethnicity. The rate of death among black women remains quite a bit higher than the rates of death for white, Hispanic, or Asian women. This significant disparity remains despite the decrease in deaths overall. In terms of the causes of maternal deaths, a review of deaths between 2017-2019 showed 84% were determined to be preventable, while 15% were not preventable. The causes of maternal death include mental health and cardiac or hemorrhaging problems. It’s important to note that maternal mortality is defined as death that occurs “during or within a year of pregnancy.”
The narrative from the Left is that the GOP does not care about women’s health, especially in terms of pregnancy. The news of a decrease in maternal deaths is welcome, especially in a post-Dobbs era. However, the media are eager to make the new data look bad for Trump and Republicans, as made clear by an Axios piece titled, “Black maternal health efforts face unclear future under Trump.”
Just before the election, there was an onslaught of propaganda from the Left about how a new Trump administration would quite literally cause more women to die. Women such as Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, who both took abortion medication, developed infections, and did not get or seek medical care in time, are used as examples in a fight against Trump and abortion bans. However, neither of these women’s tragic ends is a result of bans. And while both are maternal deaths, both could have been easily prevented. Neither Trump nor the GOP are to blame.
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It behooves conservatives to discuss the maternal mortality matter and ways to combat it. There is no reason a country such as the U.S., with its advanced healthcare system, should have such a disastrous maternal mortality rate. In August, the Biden administration allocated more than $558 million to address maternal health. It is a serious matter that should be addressed in a bipartisan manner, and it requires an increase in education among both patients and healthcare personnel.
Abortion bans and the overturning of Roe v. Wade aren’t to blame for the maternal mortality problem. That has existed for decades. It existed under former President Joe Biden and will continue under Trump. However, Trump alone is sure to receive the manufactured, narrative-driven blame.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a contributing freelance columnist at the Freemen News-Letter.