The U.S. had a 40 percent spike in its maternal mortality rate in 2021—the highest rate since 1965, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Abortion-rights and anti-abortion groups have debated the cause, with the former arguing that anti-abortion legislation will cause the trend to accelerate and the latter arguing that access to health care is the real issue.
Among the anti-abortion measures being introduced across the country, a Florida bill banning the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy has drawn national attention.
The Florida Senate’s minority leader said the bill could increase the maternal mortality rate because of its impact on mothers who deal with pregnancy complications and other health issues after birth.
Amassive spike in U.S. maternal deaths has abortion-rights and anti-abortion groups debating the cause of the nation’s most fatal odds for expectant mothers in more than half a century.
A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week said that maternal mortality—deaths that take place during pregnancy or within 42 days after delivery—shot up by 40 percent in 2021. The figure reaffirms America’s position as the most dangerous wealthy country to live in when pregnant or while giving birth.
The pregnancy statistics come as reproductive rights remain one of the most hotly contested issues in the country. The Supreme Court’s decision last June to overturn the constitutional right to abortion by revoking Roe v. Wade sparked nationwide protests and gave Democrats an unexpected boost in November’s midterm elections. In the wake of that ruling, some states enacted trigger laws banning abortions, and Republican legislators introduced a flurry of bills seeking to further restrict access to the procedure.
The figures showed a maternal mortality rate of 32.9 deaths for 100,000 live births—or about one death for 3,000 births. The World Health Organization put the rate in high income countries at 11 in 2017.
Upon the CDC report’s release, abortion-rights advocates warned that the deadly trend would continue to accelerate if more anti-abortion legislation is passed into law. But anti-abortion activists countered by arguing that pregnancy-related deaths have less to do with the legality of abortion and more to do with access to health care.
“Abortion was entirely legal the entire year of 2021. It had been legal in the U.S. for nearly 50 years to that point, and it is that year that got us the highest maternal mortality rate since 1965,” Scott Fischbach, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee, told Newsweek.
“The real concern with maternal mortality is making sure that women have access to good health care and that it is available to them,” he said.
In a tweet, Lila Rose, president and founder of the anti-abortion nonprofit Live Action, agreed with Fischbach, calling the report’s news “unacceptable” while urging the government to defund abortions and focus on birth and maternal health care instead.
Both abortion care and maternal care in the U.S. need to improve, Margarida Jorge, the executive director of political advocacy group Healthcare for America Now (HCAN), told Newsweek. “They’re not exclusionary,” she said.
While anti-abortion groups want to turn the conversation on maternal mortality away from the debate on abortion, abortion-rights organizations argue that the two are inextricably intertwined.
Jorge said abortion clinics are especially important for low-income women who want to carry their pregnancies to term.
“Planned Parenthood clinics have the ability to offer abortion care in addition to comprehensive sexual-reproductive health care that does include preconception counseling and care, as well as prenatal care,” Dr. Bhavik Kumar, medical director for primary and transgender care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, told Newsweek.

Newsweek