Infant mortality in the United States has risen following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and its federal protections for abortion, new research shows, largely due to babies with congenital anomalies not being aborted in states with gestational restrictions on abortion.
In other words, more infants are dying shortly after birth, rather than in the womb, in the 20 states that are enforcing gestational age prohibitions on abortion procedures.
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday used 2023 provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to compare infant mortality statistics since 2018.
Researchers found that the national overall monthly infant mortality was 1.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, but the mortality rate for infants with congenital disorders averaged 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.
After the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022, infant mortality overall increased by 7% and for infants with disabilities by 10%.
About 80% of the additional infant deaths following Dobbs are attributable to congenital abnormalities.
A similar study was conducted this summer using infant mortality data from Texas, which completely prohibits abortion except to protect the life of the mother.
The Texas-specific study found that infant mortality increased in Texas by 8.3% between 2021 and 2022 after the law was first enacted, compared to a 2.2% increase in the U.S. overall. This was again due to the increased number of infants born with congenital abnormalities.
Although the authors of Monday’s study do not directly call for the reinstatement of abortion rights, they do highlight that the increase in infant mortality is in part due to the “rapid changes in state abortion laws” and say that “restricting care can result in widespread negative health effects.”
Dr. Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN and the director of medical affairs for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an anti-abortion organization, told the Washington Examiner that the implications of Monday’s JAMA article are “sinister.”
“Congenital anomalies are not caused by abortion limitations, and promoting abortion when an unborn child has received a tragic diagnosis does not prevent his or her death,” Skop said. “It merely kills the baby before birth, and that death won’t be recorded in infant mortality statistics.”