No.
Though nine of the 10 states with the highest maternal mortality rates—Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee—have total or near-total abortion bans in place, one does not. Virginia allows abortions until the third trimester.
Maternal mortality rankings rely on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2018-2022, the most recent available. The CDC defines maternal deaths as those occurring during or within 42 days of pregnancy from causes related to or exacerbated by pregnancy. It uses the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births to determine maternal mortality rates.
Arizona had the 11th highest maternal mortality rate among the states analyzed, with 30 maternal deaths per 100,000 births. Rates were not calculated for 11 states that had insufficient data.
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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
Sources
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Maternal deaths and mortality rates: Each state, the District of Columbia, United States, 2018-2022
- Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, Despite renewed attention, pregnancy and childbirth still deadly across Arizona
- KFF, Abortion in the United States Dashboard
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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is partnering with Gigafact to produce timely fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
