Portside

In the U.S.—and across much of the world—fertility rates are falling, and populations are projected to shrink. People are having fewer children because the system makes it too hard, too risky, and too expensive.

The planned closing of Mercy Hospital underscores the dramatic loss of maternity services in Chicago over the past year — reflecting the failure of local government agencies to adequately fund critical services in vulnerable communities.

Since 2007, the government had held off on releasing an official estimate of expectant and new mothers who died from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. It waited for the data to get better. But the new, long-anticipated number falls short.