‘A matter of life and death’: maternal mortality rate will rise without Roe, experts warn

Pregnancy in the US is already dangerous, disproportionately so for people of color - and without abortion access for those who need it, there will likely be more deaths

After the revocation of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States, pregnancy-related deaths will almost certainly increase - especially among people of color, experts say. They called for urgent action to protect reproductive rights and the health of patients around the country.

There are going to be more people who are forced to carry a pregnancy to term, which means that there's going to be a greater number of people who are at risk," said Rachel Hardeman, a reproductive health equity professor and researcher at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. More pregnancy means more likelihood of deaths."