Infant mortality rates increased after Dobbs: here’s what you need to know

After the overthrow of the Constitution, infant mortality rates increased in the United States Roe v. Wade New research shows that federal protections for abortion are largely due to babies with birth defects not being aborted in states with restrictions on abortion during pregnancy.

In other words, in the 20 states that enforce gestational age bans on abortion procedures, more babies die soon after birth rather than in the womb.

A new study published in the journal Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday used interim data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2023 to compare infant mortality statistics from 2018.

Researchers found that the country’s overall monthly infant mortality rate was 1.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, but the mortality rate for infants with congenital defects averaged 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.

after Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization by the decision of June 2022, infant mortality increased by 7% in general and in the case of disabled infants by 10%.

About 80% of additional infant deaths follow Dobbs are caused by congenital defects.

A similar study was conducted this summer using infant mortality data from Texas, which completely bans abortion except to protect the mother’s life.

A Texas study found that infant mortality rates increased by 8.3% in Texas in 2021-2022 after the law went into effect, compared to a 2.2% increase in the United States as a whole. This was again due to the increased number of newborns born with congenital defects.

While the authors of Monday’s study do not directly call for restoring abortion rights, they emphasize that the increase in infant mortality is due in part to “rapid changes in state abortion laws” and say that “limiting care may result in widespread negative health outcomes.”

Dr. Ingrid Skop, an obstetrician-gynecologist and medical director at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an anti-abortion organization, said Washington Examiner that the consequences of Monday CAVITY article are “ominous.”

“Birth defects are not caused by restrictions on abortion, and promoting abortion in the event of a tragic diagnosis of an unborn child does not prevent its death,” Skop said. “It simply kills the baby before birth, and that death is not recorded in infant mortality statistics.”