Pregnant women face increasingly dangerous risks as doctors flee punitive US states

Abortion rights protesters at a protest in New Orleans in May. Many states hostile to abortion have also pursued policies that can worsen health overall. Photograph: Kathleen Flynn/Reuters

Louisiana is fighting to become a leader in the race to criminalize doctors who allegedly provide abortions, since the US supreme court ended federal abortion protections.

In doing so, the state may also become an example of how abortion bans could worsen maternal health in America, as criminal penalties across the US redefine where and how doctors are willing to practice.