The staff at Monroe County Hospital in Alabama said goodbye and played Brahms' "Lullaby" on the labor and delivery ward's final day.

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.

    • BorgDrone
      29·
      1 year ago

      The people making these decisions are geriatric, they won’t be having any babies themselves. These are people who should be in retirement homes playing bingo instead of ruling the country.

      • GentlemanLoser@ttrpg.network
        17·
        1 year ago

        I think that’s a little simplistic. Conservatives trend older for sure but the hate they carry isn’t going to die with them. It gets passed on, and like sexual abuse it seems some victims will break the cycle while others will continue to perpetuate it. I wish we could just wait them out, it would be easier.

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
        14·
        1 year ago

        While true, young Republicans believe the same exact shit and vote the same way (some even more extreme). They just want people to suffer.

        • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
          4·
          1 year ago

          Yeah they don’t see it as unnecessary suffering but as suffering due to choices made. They see all abortion as preventable, and so if you do something that may result in pregnancy they think you deserve the kid you’re stuck with.

          There’s also the ones who just believe abortion is always wrong and any suffering to stop it is worth it