Biggest health risks of overturning Roe v. Wade abortion decision

"There are going to be women that will die from pregnancy because of this decision, period," said Dr. Amy Addante, an OBGYN in Illinois and a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health.In addition, pregnant people would face the risk of prosecution for seeking to end pregnancies in states where abortion is banned, and research has shown that unwanted pregnancies have many harmful long-term consequences for mothers, including a higher chance of financial hardship and a severe toll on mental health.The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed country. A study published last year found that although most U.S. states had similar rates of maternal mortality in 1995, states that restricted abortion access had significantly higher rates by 2017 than those with more protective policies."Unintended pregnancies are at higher risk for medical complications, which can extend beyond once the baby is delivered," Addante said.That was also the finding of a five-year research project at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco, called The Turnaway Study, which looked at 1,000 women who sought abortions across 30 facilities in the U.S. Of that group, women who were denied abortions had more serious health problems, such as high blood pressure or seizures, than those who had abortions. "We can definitely say that if these people had been able to get the care that they wanted, those maternal deaths would have been avoided," said Ralph, one of the study's researchers.Experts said it is unlikely that overturning Roe would lead to more unsafe abortions in the U.S., although there is a chance."In terms of unsafe abortions, 'back-alley' or unskilled abortion providers and women dying from unsafe abortions, I truly hope that is not what we’re seeing.