While Ireland Plans To Offer Abortions For Free, only one Abortion Clinic Remains Open In Missouri, following the new state Requirements. Under the new requirements, abortion providers must secure admitting privileges at hospitals located within about 15 minutes from their health centers. Therefore, under the new regulations, only Planned Parenthood's St. Louis clinic currently provides abortions. The pretext is that it makes patients safer if they experience complications from the abortion.
However, despite their such deep concerns for the well being of mothers and their infants, Missouri, and other pro-life states have some of the highest infant and maternity mortality rates.
The U.S. infant mortality rate is 5.9 deaths per 1,000 birth. The Missouri rate is 6.5 deaths. It actually went up from 6.3 in 2016 to 6.5 in 2017. Lowest are New Hampshire (4.2), and Massachusetts and California (4.4).
Infant mortality rate in the United States as of 2017, by state (deaths per 1,000 live births)
The same with maternity mortality rate. The United Health Foundation’s 2018 Health of Women and Children Report pegged the national average at about 20.7 deaths per 100,000 births, while Missouri’s maternal mortality rate was 32.6 deaths per 100,000 births. Kansas clocked in at 19.6, Texas 34.2 and GA topped it at 46.2. While states like California (4.5) and Massachusetts (6.1) are well under double digits. California rate is so low, that it is not included in the national rate calculation because, combined with the large population base, it skewed the data too much.
Maternal Mortality in Missouri in 2018 (You can check the rate for other states on the website also).
Pro-life states also tend to be states with the least access to birth control. Nurx, a San Francisco based company, is known as the Uber for birth control. The company is one of the largest provider of birth control in the pro-life states, especially in the rural areas. The company has drawn the ire of the pro-life activists because they also offer morning-after pills (Plan B and Ella) which are classified as contraceptive by the FDA. However, in the view of pro-life activists these pills are considered to be on the same level as abortion pill like RU 486. In their eyes, “a fertilized egg is the same as pregnancy and is the same as a person.”