{"id":277736,"date":"2022-11-26T09:20:31","date_gmt":"2022-11-26T15:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=277736"},"modified":"2022-12-02T00:29:13","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T06:29:13","slug":"maternity-care-deserts-ignored-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/maternity-care-deserts-ignored-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Maternity care deserts&#8217;\u00a0ignored in favor of expanding abortion access"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>A recently published March of Dimes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marchofdimes.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-10\/2022_Maternity_Care_Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> found that 36% of all US counties are \u201cmaternity care deserts.\u201d\u00a0 The organization <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marchofdimes.org\/about\/news\/march-dimes-releases-third-maternity-care-deserts-report-revealing-access-to-care\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> that &#8220;access to maternity care is diminishing in places where it\u2019s needed most, impacting nearly seven million American women of childbearing age and roughly 500,000 babies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_280403\" style=\"width: 917px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-280403\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-280403\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Maternity-Care-Deserts-map-from-March-of-Dimes.jpg\" alt=\"IMAGE: Maternity Care Deserts map from March of Dimes\" width=\"907\" height=\"676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Maternity-Care-Deserts-map-from-March-of-Dimes.jpg 907w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Maternity-Care-Deserts-map-from-March-of-Dimes-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Maternity-Care-Deserts-map-from-March-of-Dimes-768x572.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Maternity-Care-Deserts-map-from-March-of-Dimes-700x522.jpg 700w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Maternity-Care-Deserts-map-from-March-of-Dimes-500x373.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 907px) 100vw, 907px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-280403\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maternity Care Deserts map from March of Dimes<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The 2022 Maternity Care Deserts Report defines maternity care deserts as &#8220;counties without a hospital or birth center offering obstetrics care and without any obstetrics providers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It found that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>36% of counties across the U.S. are designated as maternity care deserts, counties with zero obstetric hospitals or birth centers and zero obstetric providers.;<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>2.2 million women of childbearing age live in maternity care deserts and more than 146,000 babies are born there;<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>5% of counties have a worse designation in this report than in the 2020 report;<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Nearly 7 million women are living in communities with no or limited access to maternity care. 1 in 8 babies are born in these areas;<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The loss of obstetric providers and obstetric services in hospitals were responsible for decreases in maternity care access in over 110 counties between this report and the 2020 report;<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>1 in 4 Native American babies were born in areas with no or limited access to maternity care services; and<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>1 in 6 Black babies were born in areas with no or limited access to maternity care services.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The report also stated, &#8220;Nationwide, five percent of counties have less maternity access than just two years ago. These areas of combined low or no access affect up to 6.9 million women and almost 500,000 births in the U.S. In maternity care deserts alone\u2014approximately 2.2 million women of childbearing age and almost 150,000 babies are affected.&#8221; Previous reports have <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/maternity-closing-dangerous-women\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shown<\/a> similar numbers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hospitals<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In 2020, 98.3 percent of all live births occurred in hospitals,&#8221; the report stated. That same year, &#8220;over eight million women of childbearing age lived in counties without an obstetric hospital.&#8221; In addition, it noted, &#8220;Overall, since 2005, 181 rural hospitals have closed across the country. [&#8230;] The closure of maternity wards is concentrated in rural counties with the most frequent loss in the most remote counties.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>URGENT:\u00a0<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/give.liveaction.org\/future-of-abortion\/?utm_source=lan&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=minibomb\"><b><i>For every dollar given, 34 more people can be reached with the truth about abortion. Will you join us in this life-saving work as a monthly donor today?<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to the pro-abortion American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, less than half of rural women live within a 30-minute drive to the nearest hospital offering perinatal services. In 2014, the organization <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acog.org\/clinical\/clinical-guidance\/committee-opinion\/articles\/2014\/02\/health-disparities-in-rural-women\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explained<\/a>, &#8220;Within a 60-minute drive, the proportion increases to 87.6% in rural towns and 78.7% in the most isolated areas.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite this disparity, abortion advocates continue to prioritize abortion over actual health care. In New Mexico &#8212; where there is no gestational time limit on abortion and there are 11 maternity desert counties &#8212; rather than investing in rural maternity care hospitals, the governor there is <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/new-mexico-governor-designates-10m-state-funded-abortion-facility\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">focused<\/a> on building a $10 million abortion facility. New York State politicians appear more interested in <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/new-york-pregnancy-centers-4-million-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">attacking<\/a> pregnancy help centers,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/new-york-bills-protect-abortionists-safe-haven\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shielding<\/a> abortionists from the <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/families-haunted-memories-loved-killed-legal-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">consequences<\/a> of their own dangerous actions, and making the state a &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/new-york-bills-protect-abortionists-safe-haven\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">safe haven<\/a>&#8221; for abortion, than they are in increasing maternity care access.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Birth centers and\u00a0federally qualified health centers (FQHCs)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The March of Dimes report noted a slight increase in freestanding birth centers &#8211; which as of December 2021 stood at 406 nationwide. It also praised the work of federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), noting that these centers &#8220;provide a unique opportunity to improve maternal care in low-income communities.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As of December 2021, 8,104 FQHCs were identified&#8221; by the March of Dimes &#8220;as clinics that provide maternity care in the U.S.&#8221; But the report also noted, &#8220;Nearly half (48%) of rural counties don\u2019t have an FQHC and at least 2.6 million Medicaid eligible women live in counties without an FQHC. [&#8230;] Furthermore, over half (50.7%) of counties with no FQHC are maternity care deserts.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the fact that FQHCs provide a wide range of services for men, women, and children, rather than focusing on an increase in FQHCs, the pro-abortion media and its industry allies are fixated on attacking the <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pregnancy-resource-centers-care-people-womb-tomb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">positive free assistance<\/a>\u00a0offered at pro-life pregnancy help centers and expanding abortion to the point that the Biden Administration was even <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/hhs-secretary-xavier-becerra-announces-options-table-protect-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">considering<\/a> establishing abortion facilities (not maternity care centers) on federal land.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ekgiScr364Y\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Abortion facilities offer women\u00a0little &#8220;assistance&#8221; beyond abortion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The American public has been led to believe that abortion facilities provide needed medical care to women, but the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.conx.2020.100043\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a>\u00a0\u201cAbortion service delivery in clinics by state policy climate in 2017\u201d funded by an \u201canonymous donor\u201d and published in the pro-abortion journal Contraception, tells a different story. The report used\u00a0data from Planned Parenthood\u2019s former \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/how-independent-is-guttmacher-from-planned-parenthood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">special affiliate<\/a>,\u201d the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/2000-20-million-abortions-declining\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Guttmacher Institute<\/a>, regarding all known US abortion facilities. It\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/report-women-prenatal-health-trouble-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a>\u00a0that of the 808 abortion facilities categorized by Guttmacher as \u201cclinics,\u201d (which provided 95% of all abortions in 2017) just 27% offered\u00a0<em>general health care,<\/em>\u00a0and only 18% offered any type of\u00a0<em>prenatal and\/or obstetric care<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Out of those categorized as \u201cspecialized abortion clinics\u201d \u2014 which commit 60% of abortions \u2014 <em>only 11%<\/em> offered\u00a0<em>general healthcare<\/em>\u00a0and <em>only 5%<\/em> offered\u00a0<em>prenatal and\/or obstetric care<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In the \u201cnonspecialized clinics\u201d category \u2014\u00a0which commits 35% of all abortions \u2014 only 36% offer\u00a0<em>general healthcare<\/em>\u00a0and 25% offer some kind of\u00a0<em>obstetric or prenatal care<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Planned Parenthood v FQHCs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Planned Parenthood <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-womens-health-plummeting-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">provides<\/a> an estimated 1% or less of prenatal care services in the U.S. and commits 43 abortions for every one\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ekgiScr364Y&amp;t=2s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prenatal care service<\/a>\u00a0it provides. Yet, pro-abortion politicians continue to fund this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-record-federal-defunding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">organization<\/a> to the tune of\u00a0$618.1 million <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-womens-health-plummeting-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">last year<\/a> alone &#8212; <em>$9.3<\/em> <em>billion<\/em> since <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/2020-planned-parenthood-record-breaking-abortions-funding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2000<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Planned Parenthood&#8217;s most recent report <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-womens-health-plummeting-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">revealed<\/a> that while prenatal care at Planned Parenthood\u00a0<em>increased<\/em>\u00a0just 2% (from 8,626 in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.plannedparenthood.org\/uploads\/filer_public\/67\/30\/67305ea1-8da2-4cee-9191-19228c1d6f70\/210219-annual-report-2019-2020-web-final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2019<\/a>\u00a0to 8,775 in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.plannedparenthood.org\/uploads\/filer_public\/40\/8f\/408fc2ad-c8c2-48da-ad87-be5cc257d370\/211214-ppfa-annualreport-20-21-c3-digital.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2020<\/a>), the service has\u00a0<em>decreased<\/em>\u00a0drastically in the past decade, falling nearly 72% from 31,098 prenatal services reported in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2009-2010-Planned-Parenthood-Annual-Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2010<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Planned Parenthood offers substantially fewer prenatal care services to women than do FQHCs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2015: While PP\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/20170526_annualreport_p02_singles.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recorded<\/a>\u00a09,419 prenatal services, FQHCs\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20161203135050\/http:\/\/bphc.hrsa.gov\/uds\/datacenter.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a0552,150 prenatal patients.<\/li>\n<li>2016: While PP\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.plannedparenthood.org\/uploads\/filer_public\/71\/53\/7153464c-8f5d-4a26-bead-2a0dfe2b32ec\/20171229_ar16-17_p01_lowres.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recorded<\/a>\u00a07,762 prenatal services, FQHCs\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20180429052831\/https:\/\/bphc.hrsa.gov\/uds\/datacenter.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a0559,848 prenatal patients.<\/li>\n<li>2017: While PP\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.plannedparenthood.org\/uploads\/filer_public\/80\/d7\/80d7d7c7-977c-4036-9c61-b3801741b441\/190118-annualreport18-p01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recorded<\/a>\u00a09,055 prenatal services, FQHCs\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bphc.hrsa.gov\/uds\/datacenter.aspx?q=tall&amp;year=2017&amp;state=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a0573,026 prenatal patients.<\/li>\n<li>2018: While PP\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.plannedparenthood.org\/uploads\/filer_public\/2e\/da\/2eda3f50-82aa-4ddb-acce-c2854c4ea80b\/2018-2019_annual_report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recorded<\/a>\u00a09,798\u00a0prenatal services, FQHC\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bphc.hrsa.gov\/uds\/datacenter.aspx?q=tall&amp;year=2018&amp;state=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a0563,740\u00a0prenatal patients.<\/li>\n<li>2019:\u00a0While PP\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.plannedparenthood.org\/uploads\/filer_public\/67\/30\/67305ea1-8da2-4cee-9191-19228c1d6f70\/210219-annual-report-2019-2020-web-final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recorded<\/a>\u00a08,626 prenatal services, FQHC\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/data.hrsa.gov\/tools\/data-reporting\/program-data\/national\/table?tableName=Full&amp;year=2019\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a0583,328 prenatal patients.<\/li>\n<li>2020:\u00a0While PP\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-womens-health-plummeting-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recorded<\/a>\u00a08,775 prenatal services, FQHC\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/data.hrsa.gov\/tools\/data-reporting\/program-data\/national\/table?tableName=Full&amp;year=2020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a0551,990 prenatal patients.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yet, within this same timeframe (2015-2020), Planned Parenthood committed over 2 million abortions.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-275803 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Planned-Parenthood-past-decare-abortions-market-share-Gov-dollars-excess-revenue-2000-to-2020-2021-AR.jpg\" alt=\"Image: Planned Parenthood past decade: abortions, market share. Gov dollars. excess revenue (2000 to 2020-2021 AR)\" width=\"739\" height=\"382\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Planned-Parenthood-past-decare-abortions-market-share-Gov-dollars-excess-revenue-2000-to-2020-2021-AR.jpg 929w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Planned-Parenthood-past-decare-abortions-market-share-Gov-dollars-excess-revenue-2000-to-2020-2021-AR-300x155.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Planned-Parenthood-past-decare-abortions-market-share-Gov-dollars-excess-revenue-2000-to-2020-2021-AR-768x397.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Planned-Parenthood-past-decare-abortions-market-share-Gov-dollars-excess-revenue-2000-to-2020-2021-AR-700x362.jpg 700w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Planned-Parenthood-past-decare-abortions-market-share-Gov-dollars-excess-revenue-2000-to-2020-2021-AR-500x258.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 739px) 100vw, 739px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Planned Parenthood past decade: abortions, market share. Gov dollars. excess revenue (2000 to 2020-2021 AR)<\/p>\n<p>Planned Parenthood <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-womens-health-plummeting-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a> approximately 2.4 million clients annually between 2015 to 2019, dropping to approximately 2.2 million clients in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2015: FQHCs\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-anything-womens-health-organization\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a024,295,946 clients<\/li>\n<li>2016: FQHCs\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-anything-womens-health-organization\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a025,860,296\u00a0clients<\/li>\n<li>2017:\u00a0FQHCs\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bphc.hrsa.gov\/uds\/datacenter.aspx#fn12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a027,174,372\u00a0clients<\/li>\n<li>2018:\u00a0FQHCs\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bphc.hrsa.gov\/datareporting\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a028,379,680\u00a0clients<\/li>\n<li>2018:\u00a0FQHCs\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bphc.hrsa.gov\/datareporting\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a029,836,613\u00a0clients<\/li>\n<li>2018:\u00a0FQHCs\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bphc.hrsa.gov\/datareporting\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served<\/a>\u00a028,590,897\u00a0clients<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Likewise, while Planned Parenthood facilities have remained at around 600 locations (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.plannedparenthood.org\/uploads\/filer_public\/80\/d7\/80d7d7c7-977c-4036-9c61-b3801741b441\/190118-annualreport18-p01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2017<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-womens-health-plummeting-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2020)<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/data.hrsa.gov\/data\/fact-sheets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FQHC&#8217;s number of sites<\/a> grew from 10,400 in 2017 to 13,500 in 2021.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Companies scale back on maternity benefits and fund abortion travel<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Despite the disparity in maternal healthcare facilities, corporate America &#8211; which could pour its dollars into life-affirming solutions &#8212; is by and large pushing abortion. A recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/the-surprising-benefit-some-companies-are-taking-awayparental-leave-11661125605\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">survey<\/a> of 3,000 employers <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/companies-increase-abortion-benefits-reduce-maternity-parental\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> that only 35% now offer paid maternity leave benefits beyond what is mandated by federal law, down from 53% in 2020. Yet, pro-abortion corporate America is tripping over itself to fund abortion travel.<\/p>\n<p>As reported <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/eeoc-investigates-abortion-travel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">previously<\/a> by Live Action News, a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/fairness-justice\/eeoc-commissioner-goes-after-companies-for-abortion-travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Washington Examiner<\/a>\u00a0report found there are over 120 major corporations including Apple, Tesla, Disney, Hulu, Microsoft, Kroger, and Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods providing unique abortion benefits to employees. Netflix\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/economy\/disney-jpmorgan-companies-cover-abortion-travel-costs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has offered<\/a>\u00a0each employee a $10,000 lifetime allowance for abortion-related travel.<\/p>\n<p>Women deserve life-affirming solutions to critical healthcare shortages. What they don&#8217;t need are unregulated virtual and <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/mobile-abortion-vans-churches\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mobile abortion<\/a> options, and chemical abortion pills. It is past time for policymakers to pivot from abortion advocacy to building real healthcare options for women.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pledge.liveaction.org\/?utm_source=lan&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=prolife_pledge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-277267 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/pledge-live-action-ad-970x250-700x180.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recently published March of Dimes report found that 36% of all US counties are \u201cmaternity care deserts.\u201d\u00a0 The organization reported that &#8220;access to maternity care is diminishing in places where it\u2019s needed most, impacting nearly seven million American women of childbearing age and roughly 500,000 babies.&#8221; The 2022 Maternity Care Deserts Report defines maternity [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":192420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[15,4,9459],"tags":[19,3956,4509,644,19541,14,1121],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Maternity care deserts&#039;\u00a0ignored in favor of expanding abortion access<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As abortion advocates continue to push for wider access to abortion, they ignore the increasing problem of maternity care deserts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/maternity-care-deserts-ignored-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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