Every resident will pay the price if Arizona limits abortion access

Abortion is front and center again, as a draft ruling leaked from the Supreme Court threatens the reproductive freedoms guaranteed by Roe v. Wade. This has caused a national outcry with many amplifying individuals’ experiences and need for abortion care.

But as students of medicine and public health in Arizona, we must point out how eliminating abortion care will also have dire consequences for our health care and social systems, which are already underfunded in the state.

Why would this be considered a public health issue?

Go deeper: How overturning Roe v. Wade could harm Arizonans

Researchers have measured health outcomes for decades. We have clear ideas about what causes poor health within communities.

We define them as “social determinants of health.” These determinants have been proven to directly and indirectly affect our health in profound ways, often through access to health care and social support.

In fact, they are twice as influential in our health outcomes than the quality of our health care. We foresee many negative public health impacts upon all citizens of Arizona.

We don't have paid leave, child care to help moms

Forcing people to give birth without considering their social determinants makes no sense.

Arizona Senate Bill 1644 was introduced in 2021, which would have guaranteed 26 weeks of paid family medical leave, but it failed in committee.

And in the two years preceding the pandemic, Arizona had already lost one-fifth of its child care workforce. Nearly half of Arizonans live in a “child care desert.”

How will these children be cared for if their parent(s) is working? According to the Economic Policy Institute, infant child care in Arizona costs on average $10,948 per year.

Additionally, Arizona is facing a crippling teacher shortage in its primary and secondary schools for a host of reasons. Enforcing pregnancy will overburden our already underfunded education system.

Throw in a lack of mental health providers for both children and adults in Arizona, and we can only conclude that the implications for public health will be felt for decades to come.

Law could exacerbate our health care shortage

It is also important to emphasize that pregnant people are at risk for complications throughout their entire pregnancy and have special risks at delivery. Abortion services are routinely offered in the context of risk to the mother’s life, including infection and serious blood loss.

In 2018, which is the last year for CDC reported data on abortion mortality, two women died from abortion-related procedures. But the maternal mortality rate is much higher: 23.8 per 100,000 births in 2020.

Unfortunately, Arizona trails the national rates, with the Washington Post reporting 35.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Clinical abortion services reduce maternal deaths.

We wonder if residents and nursing and medical students will choose to train in a state that might hold them legally accountable for saving a pregnant person’s life? A shortage of health care providers would no doubt contribute to negative health outcomes.

Arizona ranked 39th nationally in health outcomes in the 2018 Health of Women and Children Report. Of the 126 regions designated by the Arizona Department of Health Services as primary care areas, 89 are considered to be underserved.

We need to attract and retain healthcare professionals and allow them the ability to provide comprehensive health care to Arizonans – including abortion care.

Will helping miscarriages also be criminalized?

Criminalizing abortion will negatively affect health care in Arizona.

Although the recently passed Arizona SB 1164 provides immunity to people receiving abortion services under 15 weeks, it reinforces an 1864 law that prohibits physicians from performing or helping perform abortions, calling for a minimum of two years in prison. This could effectively create a complete ban on abortion in Arizona

Many miscarriage complications are managed by the same procedures used to perform an abortion. Will assisting people miscarrying also be criminalized?

For the sake of all Arizonans, we need reproductive rights codified into law. Call your legislator and tell them that you are against overturning Roe v. Wade.

Annapurna Chitnavis and Eshaan Kashyap are third-year MD/MPH students at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and Robbie Shatto and Lauren Waisanen are MPH students at the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona. Share your thoughts at waisanenlauren@gmail.com; on Twitter: @Eshaan_Kashyap and @lauren_waisanen.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: If Arizona limits abortion access, every resident will suffer