In the wake of Texas' abortion ban, the state's infant mortality rate rose and more died from birth defects, a study released Monday shows.
The Johns Hopkins University analysis is the latest research to find higher infant mortality rates in states with abortion restrictions.
The researchers looked at how many babies died before their first birthday after Texas adopted an abortion ban in September 2021. They compared infant deaths in Texas with those in 28 states, some of which also have restrictions. The researchers calculated that there were 216 more deaths in Texas than expected between March and December of next year.
In Texas, the infant mortality rate by 2022 rose 8% to 5.75 per 1,000 births, compared with a 2% increase in the rest of the United States, according to the study in the journal JAMA Pediatrics .
Among causes of death, birth defects showed a 23% increase, compared to a 3% decrease in the rest of the US. Texas law blocks abortions after heart activity is detected, usually five or six weeks into pregnancy, well before the tests. they are done to detect fetal anomalies.
“I think these findings make clear the potentially devastating consequences that abortion bans can have,” said co-author Suzanne Bell, a fertility researcher.
Doctors have argued that the law is too restrictive for women facing pregnancy complications, although the state Supreme Court last month he rejected a case that sought to undermine him.
Infant deaths are relatively rare, Bell said, so the team was somewhat surprised by the findings. Because of the small numbers, the researchers couldn't look at rates in different populations, for example, to see if rates rose more for certain races or socioeconomic groups.
But the results didn't surprise Tiffany Green, an economist and population health scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies the consequences of racial disparities in reproductive health. He said the results were in line with previous research on racial disparities in infant mortality rates due to state differences in Medicaid funding for abortions. Many of the people who have abortions are vulnerable to pregnancy complications, said Green, who was not part of the research.
Stephen Chasen, a specialist in maternal-fetal medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, said abortion restrictions have other consequences. Chasen, who had no role in the research, said people carrying pregnancies with fetal abnormalities need additional support, education and specialized medical care for the mother and newborn, all of which require resources.
