Post-Roe, who are the ‘murderers’?

For anyone wondering why even the most devoted mothers, fathers and grandparents are speaking out against Project 2025 and abortion bans, the best answer I can share is that abortion ban advocates are practicing medicine without a license.

That became clear immediately post-Roe, when the National Vital Statistics System 2022 data showed that maternal death rates in abortion-restriction states were 62% higher than in states with greater abortion access.

The Washington Post recently reported on one of the strictest abortion ban states, Arkansas. As of 2022, Arkansas ranks fourth worst in maternal mortality and third worst in infant mortality, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ninety-two percent of recent maternal deaths were preventable, according to an Arkansas state review committee.

In August 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court rejected on a technicality an abortion rights ballot measure that had enough signatures of Arkansas citizens to be on the ballot this November.

Yet Trump and Vance and their allies on the U.S. Supreme Court say that abortion laws should be left up to the local “sensitivities” of individual states. A similar view on racial discrimination was the reason our nation intervened with the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The victims dying in abortion ban states also deserve our intervention. For those of us in Illinois, it starts with our votes for federal candidates this November.

Amy Hartsough

Hoffman Estates