Health systems across the country face a growing epidemic of unsafe, unsafe and unsanitary abortion procedures.
The U, S. has the highest number of unsafe abortions per capita of any industrialized nation.
According to a new report, more than 5,500 women died during these unsafe procedures in 2016, and more than 10,000 died during the last five years of unsafe abortion procedures, including those in the first trimester.
While these numbers are alarming, the problem is much bigger than abortion complications and is being worsened by the fact that some of these procedures are often performed in places where abortion access is limited.
As a result, a large number of women, including millions of Americans, are dying from unsafe abortion, often from botched abortions and complications during the procedures.
These women have often not received proper care at the hospital.
Many of these women had to travel from out of state to find care, often because of barriers to health care access.
This report details some of the most prevalent unsafe abortion complications that disproportionately impact women of color and women of lower socioeconomic status, and highlights the challenges women of all races face when seeking care and the barriers to care that they face.
This is the report we are calling “Abortion is Not About Pregnancy: The Problem of Unsafe Abortion in the United States.”
We will share the report with you over the next few weeks, and we will update this article with the most pressing questions and recommendations.
The report’s author is Jessica Hurd, PhD, a scholar of race, gender, and health at the University of Chicago.
Hurd is the co-author of a new book called “The Abortion War: The War Against Reproductive Choice in America.”
In addition to the report, Hurd will be speaking at the annual conference of the National Abortion Federation on March 22, 2019, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
This event is a chance to share our findings and our strategies for working to address the crisis of unsafe and unsafe abortion.
We have also assembled a panel of experts to discuss the issue and hear directly from women of varying backgrounds.
To learn more about the Abortion War, please visit www.abortionwar.org.
If you or anyone you know needs medical care or can’t travel to Washington, D.C., we encourage you to call our hotline at 1-800-488-7386.
We are reaching out to the women and men of Color who have faced the highest rates of unsafe pregnancy, abortion, and childbirth in our nation.
Together, we can make a difference.
The Abortion War is produced by the Abortion Rights Education Project.
The views expressed in this podcast are the author’s alone, and presented for the purpose of education.
The American Psychological Association does not endorse the views, opinions, or positions expressed by the podcast host or the podcast network.