Topline
Around two-thirds of practicing OBGYNs say the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has worsened pregnancy-related mortality, as well as their ability to manage pregnancy related emergencies, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found Wednesday, as a fuller picture of the landmark ruling emerges nearly a year later.
An OBGYN performs fetal monitoring. (Getty Images)
Key Facts
Some 64% of OBGYNs say the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling worsened pregnancy-related mortality, while 68% say it’s now harder to manage pregnancy emergencies, according to the KFF poll.
The poll was conducted roughly a month before the one year anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson, in which the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to an abortion.
The survey also found that 61% of OBGYNs (19% of which practice in states with abortion bans) say they’re concerned about their own legal risk when making decisions about patient care and the necessity of abortion.
Some 40% (half of which practice in states with abortion bans) say they’ve felt constraints on their ability to provide care for miscarriages and other pregnancy-related medical emergencies.
Meanwhile, 55% say the decision has worsened the ability to attract new OBGYNs to the field.
The report surveyed 569 OBGYNs from March 17 to May 18, all of whom spend 60% or more of their working hours in direct patient care and provide sexual and reproductive health care to at least 10% of patients.
News Peg
Since Dobbs v. Jackson, which altered nearly 50 years of status quo abortion rights in the U.S., 14 states have fully banned abortion, with six additional states placing gestational limits on abortion. The issue has become a rallying cry for both conservative voters seeking to end the practice of abortion and liberals seeking to protect the right to an abortion.
Big Number
1,205. That’s how many women in the U.S. died of pregnancy-related causes in 2021, the most recent CDC data available, compared with 861 in 2020 and 754 in 2019. Even before Dobbs v. Jackson, maternal mortality was worsening.
Key Background
When the Dobbs v. Jackson decision came down, abortion rights advocates feared it could have ripple effects into other areas of reproductive rights such as harming people who have miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies. This survey suggests OBGYNs are seeing these ripple effects materialize, at least anecdotally. Meanwhile, 62% of Americans support abortion rights, according to a poll released Monday by the Pew Research Center. That’s consistent with most polling that shows most Americans support legal access to abortion, but many are in favor of some restrictions. The Pew Research Center, which conducts this type of survey regularly, said that U.S. support for abortion has remained largely unchanged for several years now.
Further Reading
A National Survey of OBGYNs’ Experiences After Dobbs (The Kaiser Family Foundation)
