By J.T. Kopcyznski, DFLA Director of Analytics

With the divide in America on pregnancy outcomes, abortion policy is often boiled down to a soundbite to persuade voters. However, the soundbites do not adequately portray the complexity of pregnancy decisions for women or what affects the decision to abort a child compared to carrying the child to term. 

The DFLA Education Fund sought a better understanding of what is necessary by exploring specific areas of pregnancy support initiatives compared to abortion and maternal mortality rates. We sought a better understanding of states with high abortion rates versus those with lower rates to understand the difference in pregnancy outcome equity by state. 

The results were somewhat surprising. Many believe social safety nets are critical to leveling the playing field for financially insecure families. However, states with strong social safety nets did not necessarily fare as well for pregnancy equity. Our Scorecard reveals that all states have areas of improvement to increase equity for pregnancy outcomes. 

For example, while Louisiana and California drastically differ in their policies and outcomes, they had relatively similar scores (Louisiana: 100.09, California: 104.02). This trend exists for other states as well, such as Texas (91.24) and Colorado (93.3), Minnesota (76.03) and Oklahoma (77.4), and Massachusetts (84.94) and Idaho (81.96). 

Where do these differences come from? Using Texas and Colorado as an example, both states have drastically different policies on abortion, as Texas law limits abortion while Colorado has very few abortion regulations or limitations. However, post-birth policies drastically differ in both states. For example, Texas has a higher diaper tax rate and no paid leave policy. However, they do have an Alternatives to Abortion initiative to support choice for women and does not allocate taxpayer dollars to abortion, the funding for which has increased from $100 million in 2021 to $200 million in 2023. 

By contrast, Colorado allows abortion without limits, including late-term abortion on a viable fetus. The state lacks laws against fetal homicide and lacks laws to ensure medical care for babies born alive following an abortion. The state further does not provide any direct outreach for alternatives to abortion and funds abortion. However, Colorado has a lower diaper tax and infant mortality rate. Moreover, Colorado has a state-wide paid sick leave program and a significantly lower maternal mortality rate. These balance out to give Texas and Colorado relatively similar scores despite having opposite politics. 

The pattern repeats for California and Louisiana as well, as California has few protections for women seeking abortion and no abortion alternative initiative. However, California provides paid leave and provides a generous social safety net. Moreover, California has a lower infant mortality rate than Louisiana. However, prioritizing abortion seems to harm equity in pregnancy outcomes in the golden state, making it almost equal to Louisiana in its score. 

This shows that many states, such as Georgia and New Jersey, must continue to craft policies that respect life from womb to tomb. Red states and blue states alike must work towards this, and to do this, states must pass policies that respect life before and after birth.

States have been rising to the challenge of addressing pregnancy equity. Some states are rising to meet those challenges. For example, North Carolina recently joined 39 other states to expand Medicaid, and Georgia boosted SNAP benefits for pregnant women. These red states are working towards a Whole Life future. Blue states with high abortion rates need to meet that challenge by lowering the abortion numbers and the ratio of pregnancies that end in abortion.  

We urge all states to look at where they stand and make necessary improvements so all women will have an equal opportunity to parent.

Click here to view the DFLA Education Fund Pregnancy Equity Scorecard.