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In the 18 months following the Supreme Court's decision in the Dobbs case, which ended the federal right to abortion, the United States saw a troubling rise in infant mortality. According to new research, hundreds more infants died than anticipated, particularly those with congenital anomalies or birth defects. This increase highlights the significant impact that abortion bans and restrictions, enacted in several states post-Dobbs, are having on broader health trends.

 

“This is evidence of a national ripple effect, regardless of state-level status,” said Dr. Parvati Singh, an assistant professor of epidemiology at The Ohio State University and lead author of the study. The study, published in *JAMA Pediatrics*, compared infant mortality rates in the 18 months after the Dobbs decision with historical data. It found that, in multiple months following the ruling, infant mortality rates were higher than expected, with some months seeing a 7% increase in deaths. 

 

In October 2022, March 2023, and April 2023, infant mortality was significantly elevated, resulting in an estimated 247 additional deaths in each of these months. The researchers attributed about 80% of these deaths to congenital anomalies, conditions that can range from mild to severe and affect vital organs such as the heart and spine. In some cases, infants born with these anomalies may only survive a few months.

 

Dr. Singh emphasized the gravity of the findings. “This is the tip of the iceberg,” she explained. “Mortality is the ultimate outcome of any health condition. This is a very, very acute indicator. It could be representative of underlying morbidity and underlying hardship.”

 

The research comes amid increasing evidence that states with abortion bans are seeing a rise in births, particularly among women carrying fetuses with lethal congenital anomalies. Many of these pregnancies, experts say, would have likely ended in abortion if access to the procedure had been available.

 

“Whether the pregnancy was wanted or unwanted, we know that many of these are pregnancies that would have ended in abortion had people had access to those services,” said Dr. Ushma Upadhyay, an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the study but has conducted extensive research on abortion trends in the U.S.

 

Experts also warn that abortion bans may be contributing to broader issues in prenatal care and healthcare access. As Dr. Upadhyay noted, “The well-being of a pregnant person is inextricably linked to the well-being of the pregnancy.” She added that abortion bans can affect a person's willingness or ability to seek prenatal care, especially in communities facing structural barriers such as poverty, lack of education, and food insecurity. These factors, she explained, compound the risks of poor pregnancy and birth outcomes.

 

Dr. Alison Gemmill, a demographer and perinatal epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, also highlighted the systemic effects of abortion bans. Gemmill’s previous research identified a similar rise in infant mortality in Texas after the state enacted a six-week abortion ban in 2021. “These studies are providing a signal that people aren’t getting the care that they need, and because of that, there are spillover effects,” Gemmill said. “It’s never going to be the case that everybody’s going to be able to overcome the barriers of these bans.”

 

Infant mortality is a measure that includes all deaths that occur before a baby’s first birthday, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons for the higher death rates in certain months. However, the researchers noted that the timing of the spike in infant deaths—four, nine, and ten months after the Dobbs decision—aligns with the typical gestation period and the time when congenital anomalies are usually diagnosed in the fetus.

 

The new findings shed light on the far-reaching consequences of abortion restrictions, raising urgent questions about access to healthcare and the well-being of both mothers and their infants. As policymakers continue to debate the future of reproductive rights in the U.S., this research offers stark evidence of the real-world impacts of these legal changes.

 

Based on a report from CNN 2024-10-24