U.S. Repro Watch, May 15

U.S. Repro Watch provides periodic updates on news of interest on U.S. reproductive rights. Here are a few recent items you won’t want to miss:

Abortion bans are driving away students and young talent. . .

1. Medical students are less likely to apply for residencies in states with abortion bans.

• According to a new analysis from the Association of American Medical Colleges, for the second year in a row, students graduating from U.S. medical schools were less likely to apply for residencies in states with abortion bans.
• The number of applicants to OB-GYN residency programs in states with bans dropped by 6.7% during the 2023-2024 application cycle, compared with a 0.4% increase in states where abortion remains legal.
• “We’re supposed to be giving the best evidence-based care to our patients, and we can’t do that if we haven’t been given abortion training,” one student told NPR.

2. Most young workers don’t want to live in states with abortion bans.

• According to a new CNBC/Generation Lab survey, 62% of the youngest generation of American workers (ages 18-34) would elect not to live in a state with an abortion ban, and 45% would reject job offers in such states.
• The study suggests that state abortion bans could significantly impact the next generation of American workers, the companies they choose to work for, and the states they will call home.

Although Louisiana already bans abortion, lawmakers move for even more restrictions. . .

3. One law would reclassify abortion medications as controlled substances.

• If passed, the first-of-its-kind law would create penalties of up to 10 years of prison time for anyone in possession of mifepristone or misoprostol, the two drugs used in abortion medication.
• Such a reclassification would also jeopardize Louisiana patients’ ability to use the drugs for other reasons, such as miscarriage management and treatment of stomach ulcers.

4. But lawmakers refused to add rape and incest exceptions to Louisiana’s abortion ban.

• Despite pleas from doctors and rape survivors, a legislative committee rejected a bill on May 7 that would have added the exceptions.
• A recent report by the Center and its partners shows how Louisiana’s abortion bans have dangerously undermined pregnancy care, including access to prenatal care, miscarriage management, and treatment for dangerous pregnancy complications.

5. The New York Attorney General is suing an anti-abortion group and nearly a dozen fake clinics for falsely claiming that the effects of abortion medication can be reversed.

• The civil suit filed May 6 alleges that the groups engaged in fraud, deceptive business practices and false advertising by promoting “abortion pill reversal.”
• According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, claims regarding abortion “reversal” are not based on science and do not meet clinical standards.

6. Missouri abortion rights measure is one step closer to appearing before the voters.

• Advocates in Missouri collected enough signatures for an amendment to the state constitution that would enshrine abortion rights to appear on the ballot this year. The amendment states that the government “shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” 
• The ballot measure effort is expected to face legal challenges, and it remains unclear whether the amendment would appear on the primary or general election ballot.

U.S. maternal mortality dropped in 2022 after spiking in 2021.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 2022 U.S. maternal mortality rate was 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births—a significant decrease from the 2021 rate of 32.9. Racial disparities continued, with the 2022 rate for Black women 2.6 times higher than for white women. The COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to the high rate in 2021.

The CDC also reported large discrepancies between maternal age groups. The rate for women aged 40 and older was 87.1, which was six times higher than the rate for women younger than age 25, whose rate was 14.4.

Past comparisons have shown that the U.S. maternal mortality rate was far higher than other wealthy countries.

June 10: Hearing in Hawai‘i Midwifery Case

Filed by the Center on behalf of Hawaiian midwives, midwifery students, and women who wish to grow their families, this lawsuit challenges the state’s midwifery restriction law, which prevents pregnant people from receiving pregnancy and birth care from trusted, skilled midwives. The hearing in Kahoʻohanohano v. State of Hawaiʻi will take place at the First Circuit Court on O’ahu.