More infants died in the U.S. after Roe V. Wade was overturned.
Earlier this year, a Texas study found increased infant mortality rates in the 18 months after the state’s six-week abortion ban went into effect in 2021.
The latest study, which was penned by Parvati Singh and Dr. Maria Gallo and published in JAMA Pediatrics, built on that research. It took a look at infant mortality nationwide after Roe V. Wade was overturned in 2022.
The study found that infant mortality was up to seven percent higher than normal in certain months, which is equivalent to an average of 247 more deaths.
The jump was most pronounced—a 10 percent rise—among infants with congenital anomalies. That is likely due to more frail fetuses being carried to term amid abortion restrictions, the study suggested.
“I’m not sure that people expected infant mortality rates to increase following Dobbs. It’s not necessarily what people were thinking about,” Gallo told Ohio State News. “But when you restrict access to health care it can cause a broader impact on public health than can be foreseen.”
Singh agreed, telling CNN that the research “is evidence of a national ripple effect, regardless of state-level status.”
“This is the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “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.”
Singh told the first outlet that she now wants to explore maternal and infant mortality rates among various populations.
“There’s a broader human toll to consider,” she said, “including mental health consequences of being denied abortion care or being forced to carry a fetus with a fatal genetic abnormality to term.”
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