Abortion bans in the United States have led to a spike in infant deaths — particularly among already at-risk populations, a new study finds.
There was “higher than expected infant mortality in states after adoption of abortion bans,” the study published Thursday, Feb. 13, in the Journal of the American Medical Association says. The increase from 2012 to 2023 was 5.6%, and was higher among Black infants, a group that’s already at a higher risk of infant death.
“It signals that these additional births are occurring disproportionately among populations at greater risk of infant mortality and other poor pregnancy outcomes,” Dr. Suzanne Bell, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-author of the study, told CNN.
Bell also published a JAMA study that found that fertility rates increased in states that had adopted an abortion ban — and were largest among at-risk members of the community; Specifically, “racially minoritized individuals, those without a college degree, Medicaid beneficiaries, unmarried individuals, younger individuals, and those in southern states.”
Following the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision to overturn of Roe v. Wade — the landmark 1973 decision that granted women the right to an abortion in every state — some states enacted so-called “trigger” bans; These either outlawed or severely restricted abortion.
As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said in 2023, there was an overall “significant” rise in infant mortality, saying the rates rose 3% from 2021 to 2022 — making it the “first year-to-year increase” in the rate since 2001-2002.
“These findings make it clear that many pregnant people were unable to overcome barriers to access abortion services, and instead were forced to continue an unwanted or unsafe pregnancy to term,” Bell told CNN. “The largest impacts are among populations experiencing the greatest structural disadvantages and in states with among the worst maternal and child health outcomes, even prior to these abortion bans being imposed.”
The bans have impacted the health of mothers as well; Following the ruling, a Texas mom, 35, died in 2023 from a post-miscarriage hemorrhage as doctors cited the state’s abortion ban as a reason to not intervene; a Georgia mom, 34, nearly died in 2024 from a similar hemorrhage. And a prominent YouTube star from Texas shared that, immediately following the law in 2022, she was forced to carry a dead fetus for two weeks, as doctors in Texas wouldn’t intervene, citing the law.
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In JAMA commentary on Bell’s study, titled, “Abortion May Be Controversial—Supporting Children and Families Need Not Be,“ Dr. Alyssa Bilinski, an assistant professor of health policy at the Brown University School of Public Health, wrote: “There should be no partisan divide over the idea that all children and families deserve the opportunity to thrive.”
“Abortion restrictions that force continuation of unexpected and high-risk pregnancies make it all the more critical to ensure robust supports for children and families.”
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