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Infant Mortality Spiked in Years After Fall of Roe: Study
Infant mortality has skyrocketed in the United States in the two years following the overturning of Roe v. Wade according to a new study published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics this week. The study identified an increase in birth defects and abnormalities in born children, with 80% of new infant deaths coming as a result of these abnormalities.
247 additional infant deaths occurred in the 1½ years after Dobbs, which amounted to a 7% increase. Over 80% of those deaths — 204 — were due to congenital anomalies, an increase of 10%, according to the study. Infant mortality rates in the U.S. tend to be stable, with rates never rising or falling below the expected average. These numbers reflect the national average. Rates in states with abortion bans are much higher.
For example a similar study conducted earlier this year on infant mortality in Texas, found infant mortality rose almost 13% after the state enacted a total abortion ban—with a 23% increase in deaths due to congenital anomalies.
"Prior to these abortion bans, people had the option to terminate if the fetus was found to have a severe congenital anomaly—we’re talking about organs being outside of the body and other things that are very severe and not compatible with life," said Dr. Alison Gemmill of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who conducted the study on Texas’s infant mortality increase. "Those babies would die shortly after birth."
A significant increase in births with congenital abnormalities occurred within the first 3 months of the Dobbs decision, according to researchers, with an additional spike 8 months after the SCOTUS ruling. But by the end of the year those rates had stabilized, which researchers believe may have been caused by a reduction in pregnancies since the fall of Roe.
In other words, the rise in infant mortality occurred for couples who were already pregnant when the Dobbs ruling came down, or who didn't know they were pregnant.
After the ruling, American couples became much more selective about getting pregnant and pregnancy rates fell. Researchers believe this is similar to a fall in pregnancy rates during the COVID-19 pandemic which similarly stabilized infant mortality rates.
The data is clear: the loss of access to abortion as healthcare is resulting in increases in infant deaths, at the same time the first cases of maternal mortality due to loss of access to abortion are being reported.
In a post-Roe United States, doctors are being denied the right to practice ethical care.
