evidence: Right now, 21 states ban abortion or restrict the procedure earlier in pregnancy than the standard set by Roe v. Wade—including 14 states that enforce total bans on abortion care. Maternal health care has suffered tremendously in states that have banned or restricted abortion care and made it harder to attract new OBGYNs to the field, and the Dobbs decision greatly exacerbated America’s existing maternal mortality crisis as maternal and infant death rates are higher in states that ban or restrict abortion. A report from the Gender Equity Policy Institute found that women in states with abortion bans are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth or soon after giving birth.