The ongoing federal government shutdown is, in part, due to Democrats pushing to reverse cuts to Medicaid spending implemented earlier this year as part of a significant piece of legislation. They are not willing to back any continuing resolution to fund the government unless these cuts are reinstated.
ABC News seems to be actively supporting the Democrats’ narrative about the need to reverse these Medicaid cuts, even at the risk of their remaining journalistic credibility. For instance, “Good Morning America” recently ran a segment featuring senior White House correspondent, Selina Wang, discussing “looming Medicaid cuts that pose a threat to the already fragile maternal health system.”
The segment claims that over 5.5 million women live in “maternity care deserts,” citing a 2024 report by the March of Dimes. It argues that Medicaid cuts “could force more maternity wards to shut their doors.”
However, much of this information is factually incorrect or misleading. The March of Dimes report actually states that 2.3 million women reside in maternity care deserts, which is significantly less than the 5.5 million figure mentioned by ABC News. It appears that ABC might have arrived at that number by summing the 3 million women living in areas with limited maternity care access with the 2.3 million in deserts, but even that math doesn’t add up.
ABC’s inflation of numbers contributes to the alarmist tone of the original report. The definition used states that a maternity care desert is a county without an “obstetric clinician” or a hospital that provides obstetric care. According to this, roughly 35% of counties in the U.S. qualify as maternity care deserts.
Most of these counties are rural and, interestingly, they account for only 3.6% of women of reproductive age and about 4.1% of all annual births. Focusing solely on the percentage of counties drastically exaggerates the issue.
Moreover, many rural counties are adjacent to ones that do have access to obstetric care. In fact, an average resident of a designated maternity care desert is only a 38-minute drive away from a hospital with maternity services. While rural residents may have to travel a bit longer, a 38-minute trip doesn’t necessarily mean that maternity care is nonexistent. Most expectant mothers are aware of when labor begins, as contractions can start many hours before delivery, allowing sufficient time to reach a nearby facility.
Additionally, in urgent situations, hospitals in these areas often employ doctors who, while they may not specialize in obstetrics, are still qualified to assist with deliveries. It would simply be impractical to have every type of medical specialty available in every sparsely populated county across the country.
The March of Dimes report also asserts that living in a maternity care desert is linked to a 13% increased risk of preterm birth. However, this claim doesn’t account for the higher prevalence of poverty, obesity, and other health issues—conditions that inherently escalate preterm birth rates—among those in rural areas seen as maternity care deserts. It remains uncertain how the presence of a maternity ward might change these individual behaviors.
Organizations like March of Dimes may hold an interest in exaggerating healthcare challenges to promote increased funding, while politicians advocating for healthcare subsidies have their own reasons to blow issues out of proportion. ABC News, on the other hand, is expected to focus on reporting facts rather than spinning narratives for advocacy. Unfortunately, their handling of the Medicaid cuts story demonstrates that they might not be excelling in that role.
