At 6:58 a.m. Thursday, Dr. Angela Adams Powell addressed the nurses at the south Alabama hospital where she had delivered babies for more than 25 years.
“I was afraid I might not be able to speak,” she said, her voice breaking, “and I might not.”
In two minutes, the labor and delivery department at Monroe County Hospital would shutter, leaving the community without a birthing hospital. In two minutes, pregnant women in a county where 22% of residents live below the poverty line would be forced to travel 35 to 103 miles for the next nearest option.
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Liz Kirby, Monroe County Hospital’s CEO, said a physician shortage was behind the closing. After the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, some hospitals in states with strict abortion bans have warned that it could become harder to recruit OB-GYNs, though Kirby said she wasn’t aware of that as a factor in this case. Residency applications for the specialty have also dropped more in states with abortion bans than nationally.
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Alabama is in the throes of a maternal and infant health crisis, with some of the highest rates of infant and maternal mortality in the country. Physicians say those losses should be answered with more access to care — not less.
I know it isn’t much of a response, I know we do what we can. If I could I would hug you, we could sob together, but Keep up the fight, Vote if you can, make your voice heard, don’t stop being that thorn in the side that keep attention where it is needed instead of on that shiny thing over there. And I promise to do the same!
Thank you and I will keep fighting. I think the people who need that hug are the women who will not get the help they need and the obstetrics workers who can’t do anything to help them. One side will be dying and the other side will be aware of the deaths and know they would be able to help if they were given the opportunity.