Updated on Jan. 7.
More than a year ago now, the first cases of covid-19 were reported out of Wuhan, China. Since then, more than 20 million people in the United States alone have been infected with the novel coronavirus. Among these are more than 53,000 pregnant women.
As cases and deaths continue to rise, public health efforts such as social distancing, frequent hand washing and wearing a mask remain central to combating the spread of the virus. But there are now additional tools to prevent infection: the FDA-approved Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. These vaccines are 95 percent and 94 percent effective, respectively, in preventing coronavirus infection, and will dramatically reshape the global response to the pandemic.
Pregnant or postpartum Black women are 45% more likely to die in hospital chicagotribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagotribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
18 Min Read
(Reuters) - By the time anyone at the Milwaukee County Jail noticed Shade Swayzer had given birth alone in a filthy cell, her baby was dead.
An exterior view of the Milwaukee County Jail in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., December 8, 2020. Picture taken December 8, 2020. REUTERS/Eileen Meslar
Swayzer had arrived a week earlier, on July 6, 2016, picked up after a dispute with a hotel clerk and charged with disorderly conduct and a parole violation from an old burglary conviction. She was clearly pregnant, just a few weeks from her due date, and police had her evaluated at a hospital before bringing her to jail. The fetus was deemed active and healthy, and Swayzer cleared for detention.
But is it true? Is abortion “essential health care”?
If we’re talking about the general practice of abortion in the US and Canada, then the claim that abortion is essential health care is false.
Below I set out three reasons to show it’s false. (For reasons two and three I am greatly indebted to insights from Nathan Apodaca, a writer for the Human Defense Initiative and for the Life Training Institute.)
Reason 1: The claim abortion (in general) is “essential health care” is false because most abortions are not done for medical reasons.
Reason 2: The claim abortion (in general) is “essential health care” is false because it’s logically contradictory (or has contradictory implications).