Post-Roe America: The Reality of Abortion Bans and Their Deadly Consequences
The overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 was framed as a return to “state rights” and a victory for the so-called pro-life movement. But in the time since, the consequences have become painfully clear. Women are suffering, doctors are afraid to act, and maternal deaths have risen sharply in states with restrictive abortion laws.
This is not about morality or life. It is about control. It is about the government inserting itself into deeply personal medical decisions and turning pregnancy into a potential death sentence for those without options.
What does it look like when abortion bans take full effect? It looks like women being denied emergency care as they develop life-threatening infections. It looks like 10-year-old girls being forced to carry pregnancies from rape. It looks like an exodus of doctors from states where treating miscarriages could get them arrested. These laws do not save lives—they cost them.
The Rise in Maternal Deaths
The direct link between abortion bans and increased maternal deaths is undeniable. A study from Tulane University found that states with strict abortion restrictions have seen a 7% increase in total maternal mortality compared to states where abortion remains legal. Some states have seen an increase of over 20%.
When women cannot access abortions—even in medical emergencies—the risks of life-threatening complications skyrocket. Conditions like ectopic pregnancies, preterm pre-labor rupture of membranes (PPROM), and fetal anomalies that would typically be treated with abortion care are now being left untreated until the mother’s life is in imminent danger.
Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman, is a horrifying example of this. At 18 weeks pregnant, her water broke prematurely. Her fetus had no chance of survival. But because Texas law forbids abortion unless a woman is actively dying, doctors could not intervene. She was forced to wait until she developed sepsis, a life-threatening blood infection, before doctors were legally allowed to treat her. By then, it was nearly too late. Amanda survived, but the infection left her with permanent reproductive damage, making future pregnancies unlikely.
This is not an isolated case. Across the country, women experiencing pregnancy complications are being denied life-saving care because doctors fear prosecution under vague and extreme abortion laws.
Source: Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine – Study on maternal mortality increases in abortion-restricted states
https://sph.tulane.edu/study-finds-higher-maternal-mortality-rates-states-more-abortion-restrictions
Doctors Are Being Forced to Choose Between Their Patients and the Law
Medical professionals are also caught in the fallout of abortion bans. Many states now have vague laws about when an abortion can be performed, making doctors hesitate—even when a woman’s life is in danger. The result is a mass exodus of OB-GYNs from states with abortion bans, leaving patients with even fewer healthcare options.
One Texas doctor shared her experience of watching a patient slowly deteriorate from sepsis while hospital administrators refused to approve an abortion. The patient nearly died before she was finally treated. Doctors are trained to save lives, but these laws force them to watch their patients suffer until the law allows them to act.
In Idaho, a group of OB-GYNs recently left the state entirely because they could no longer practice medicine safely. Without enough doctors, pregnant women in these states face longer wait times, higher risks, and less access to emergency care.
Source: The New Yorker – The Texas OB-GYN Exodus
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/02/the-texas-ob-gyn-exodus
The Reality for Rape and Incest Survivors
One of the most disturbing consequences of abortion bans is how they impact survivors of rape and incest—especially minors.
A 10-year-old girl in Ohio became pregnant after being raped. Because Ohio has a near-total abortion ban, she was forced to leave the state to obtain an abortion in Indiana. Politicians initially denied that the case was real, until law enforcement confirmed that the child had, in fact, been raped and impregnated.
This is the reality of abortion bans. A child, barely old enough to understand pregnancy, was expected to carry and give birth because lawmakers decided she had no right to choose.
Similar cases have surfaced in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, where minors impregnated by rape have been denied abortions. Many of them do not have the resources to travel out of state. They are left with no choice but to carry the pregnancy to term, regardless of the physical and emotional toll.
Source: The Columbus Dispatch – 10-year-old rape survivor denied abortion in Ohio
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2022/07/13/ohio-doctor-10-year-old-rape-victim-forced-abortion-indiana/10040430002/
Women Are Dying Because of Political Agendas
The case of Amber Nicole Thurman shows just how deadly abortion bans can be. Amber, a 28-year-old medical assistant in Georgia, took FDA-approved abortion medication after discovering her pregnancy was nonviable. When complications arose, hospitals turned her away due to Georgia’s strict abortion laws.
By the time she was treated, her body had already gone into septic shock. She died within days.
This is not a case of irresponsibility. This is a case of a woman trying to access medical care and being denied at every turn.
Source: Associated Press – Georgia woman dies from sepsis after being denied care
https://apnews.com/article/5ba5dabf0dc3c98de12389c34b47475d
What Happens Next?
The suffering will only get worse.
Women will continue to die from preventable pregnancy complications.
Doctors will continue to leave states where they can no longer practice safely.
More rape and incest survivors will be forced into childbirth against their will.
Maternal mortality rates will keep rising, especially for Black and low-income women.
There is no medical justification for these laws. They do not protect life. They destroy it.
Abortion bans are not about protecting babies. If they were, the same politicians enforcing these laws would be fighting for better maternal healthcare, universal childcare, and paid family leave—but they aren’t. Because this was never about life. It was about power and control.
Source List
Study Finds Higher Maternal Mortality Rates in States with More Abortion Restrictions
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
https://sph.tulane.edu/study-finds-higher-maternal-mortality-rates-states-more-abortion-restrictionsThe Texas OB-GYN Exodus
The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/02/the-texas-ob-gyn-exodus10-Year-Old Rape Survivor Denied Abortion in Ohio
The Columbus Dispatch
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2022/07/13/ohio-doctor-10-year-old-rape-victim-forced-abortion-indiana/10040430002/Georgia Woman Dies from Sepsis After Being Denied Care
Associated Press
https://apnews.com/article/5ba5dabf0dc3c98de12389c34b47475d
This is not a debate. This is a crisis. The question is no longer “Will people suffer because of these laws?” The suffering is already here. The only question now is: How much worse will we let it get?
