Abortion Worldwide 2017: Uneven Progress and Unequal Access

This article from Obstetrics & Gynecology discusses social determinants of health and their effects on pregnancy-related mortality and morbidity in the United States. The authors conducted a literature review and specifically considered pregnancy-related death, severe maternal morbidity, emergency hospitalizations, and readmissions as adverse maternal outcomes. They analyzed 83 studies: 78 examined socioeconomic position or individual factors, 58 studies had positive findings demonstrating evidence of associations between minority race and ethnicity, and several discussed insurance coverage,…

This data interactive, developed by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), shows the increase in states with laws restricting abortion coverage when using Medicaid and private insurance from 2010 to the present. The ACA renewed legislative efforts to limit abortion coverage, this time in private insurance plans. The ACA maintains the limits of the Hyde Amendment, which banned federal funding for abortion except for pregnancies that endanger the life of the woman or are a result…

This article from the Journal of Women's Health provides an expansion of the literature review on the social determinants of maternal health to include the "structural determinants of health" and "root causes of inequalities," with the ultimate goal of exploring racism as a cause of inequities in maternal health outcomes. The authors underscore the importance of the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, as it was critical to identifying and addressing…