I have had conversations with abortion supporters who insist that abortion bans kill women and that they are the leading factor in maternal mortality around the world.
The implication being that if abortion were only legal, women would not die of it.
Of course that's bunk.
The legality of abortion does not affect whether women die.
Women can sometimes get access to competent abortionists where it is illegal.
And women die of abortion where it is legal.
As I have stated time and again, what kills women is not abortion laws, but whether or not they have access to a good healthcare system.
If you legalize abortion in a country where healthcare is scarce, women will continue to die. Abortion requires a decent healthcare system to administer it.
If you criminalize abortion in a country where healthcare is relatively abundant, women will not die. Why? Because even if a woman attempts an abortion, if there is a complication, the ER will know how to take care of it.
When abortion activists make a connection between the legality and abortion and the end of widespread maternal deaths, they are usually comparing countries with decent healthcare systems to those that do not.
So how do you reduce maternal mortality? Create a decent healthcare system. Legalized abortion is not necessary.
