In the United States, there has been an uproar ever since Roe V. Wade was overturned earlier this year. Roe V. Wade being overturned is devastating news for many people across America, but especially for women and people that need abortions who don’t have the same rights or access to abortion as others who live in more liberal states.

This is, unfortunately, the case for many people who are currently living in the state of Mississippi, self-proclaimed the “safest state in the nation for an unborn child.” Though this is amazing news for those who are so-called “pro-lifers” within Mississippi, this is horrible for the individuals who need abortions within the state.

Within the state of Mississippi, black women are nearly three times more likely to die during childbirth than white women. These statistics are unnerving, to say the least, but also incredibly shocking because black people make up nearly 40% of the population in Mississippi.

In Mississippi, health officials expect 5,000 more births each year because of the Supreme Court ruling. Children are also more likely to die in Mississippi before their first birthday than in any other state. 

With abortion rights being taken away in Mississippi, it is essential for these other statistics to be lower. However, this is not the case in Mississippi. Access to pre- and post-natal care has, unfortunately, become even more few and far between since the June ruling, meaning childbirth is even more dangerous for poor women and children in Mississippi than before.

According to AP News, many people who live in states that have banned abortions have significantly fewer resources for pre-and post-natal care. These individuals also have fewer resources for healthcare as these states have fewer in general.

If abortion rights are being taken away, it is absolutely essential for women to have access to pre-and post-natal care at the very least. If not, there need to be other resources that are being given to pregnant women.

With that being said, I don’t see this to be the case in most conservative states, such as Mississippi. In these states, there is no hope for women who need abortions, let alone women who are forced to undergo unwanted pregnancies.

If abortions were legal within these states, the number of women and children dying due to childbirth or birth defects would plummet. However, this isn’t something that is of concern to the officials who are making the decisions within these states, like Mississippi. 

That is why it is essential for abortion rights to be accessible to all. Without abortion rights being accessible to all women and other individuals who need abortions, even more lives are at risk. Both the lives of the unborn child, as well as the mother, are now being jeopardized due to this poorly planned idea.

Especially in regards to what is happening in Mississippi, health care, including pre-and post-natal care as well as safe childbirth, is more easily accessible to white women than Black women within that state. Although abortions are illegal, the accessibility to resources for women who need help during their pregnancies is not the same across the state.

Those who are poor also will have fewer resources and therefore higher death rates. If abortion is going to be illegal, then health care and resources for pregnancies must be easily accessible to all. There cannot be a way where neither things are happening for a woman who is forced to undergo an unwanted pregnancy.

Without the proper resources, this does nothing but allow for more unsafe pregnancies and births than if abortions were simply legalized. Taking away the right to abortion is not only unsafe, but it also limits the woman as a whole due to not being provided with the resources she needs while pregnant, and post-natal care as well.