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Why are American mothers dying in childbirth at higher rates than in other developed countries? And who is to blame? Kim Brooks raised these questions in her Opinion essay “America Is Blaming Pregnant Women for Their Own Deaths.” More than 900 readers responded with comments on the article, including parents who shared their own harrowing birth stories and who often said they felt their lives were devalued, in favor of their child’s, by their doctors during the delivery process. (Rachel L. Harris and Lisa Tarchak, 12/3)

For experts studying the United States’ maternal mortality and injury rates — which are estimated to far surpass those in other developed countries — and for women in labor, the failure to treat mothers as people is neither antiquated nor dystopian, but absolutely pressing. In September, USA Today published a major investigation into recent efforts to curb maternal death rates. A number of states have assigned panels of experts to review what went wrong in cases where mothers die. This sounds promising. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked — rates have continued to rise — and the reason is hard to fathom. (Kim Brooks, 11/16)

Sharing her personal story in a Nov 13 column, Katie Vandegrift described the pain of learning that her much desired “life within” would not survive. Many women, myself included, have experienced the heartache of an in utero life loved and lost. Vandegrift then described a new Kentucky law as “essentially outlawing” the safest option for most women in her situation and ended by urging policymakers and courts to leave decisions regarding abortion to doctors and women. (Joyce Ostrander, 11/29)