Ghetto imagesBaby mortality rate has increased in US countries that have adopted abortion prohibitions after a remarkable decision, canceling women's national right to have access to the procedure, a new study has found.
According to the researchers, there were approximately 478 infant deaths in 14 states with prohibitions or severe restrictions after six weeks of pregnancy – which they say they would not have occurred if they were not in place.
Alison Jemil, co-leader of the study, said “abortion restrictive policies” could be “canceled decades of progress” to reduce the death of babies in the United States.
In his decision in 2022 US Supreme Court overturned its 50-year ROE V Wade decision which has defended the constitutional right of a woman to terminate pregnancy to the point of viability of the fetus, around the 24th week.
The study, Posted this week by researchers The Bloomberg School of Public Health at Bloomberg has found an increase in mortality for babies born with congenital problems, as well as among groups where the mortality rate is already higher than the average.
This includes black babies, as well as babies whose parents were unmarried, younger, do not visit college, but for those who live in the southern states.
As of January 2025, 17 countries have banned almost all abortions, although some have narrow exceptions for cases of rape, incest or mother's health.
Completely banned countries include Idaho, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.
Florida, Georgia, Iowa and South Carolina prohibit the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy.
Meanwhile, Nebraska and North Carolina have bans on procedures after 12 weeks, while in Utah it is 18 weeks.
Congenital malformations
In countries that have chosen to adopt the new laws, the baby's mortality rate increases to 6.26 per 1000 live births, compared to the expected percentage of 5.93 to 1000 – a relative increase of 5.6%.
The study also found an increase in the number of deaths from congenital abnormalities, increasing from the expected 1.24 per 1000 living births to 1.37 per 1000 – a relative increase of 10.87%.
The mortality rate for other reasons increased to 4.89 per 1000 of the expected 4.69, an increase of 4.23%.
There were 11.81 deaths for 1000 live births after the expected bans, compared to the expected speed of 10.66 to 1000, which is an increase of nearly 11%.
According to the study, an increase in infant mortality due to congenital malformations is in line with the fact that women have been denied abortions for non -viable pregnancies – when pregnancy cannot lead to a baby live.
But the increase due to the non-cornerative causes “is less simple,” the researchers say.
The study also found that the prohibition could have disposed disadvantaged disadvantaged, which is already at a higher risk of infant mortality, as well as delayed medical care.
Separate studies from the John Hopkin School of Public Health in Bloomberg have found that abortion prohibitions are also associated with increased fertility degrees.
Following the overturning of ROE V Wade, which returned control of the procedure back in individual countries, researchers found that the number of births per 1,000 women of reproductive age in the affected countries increased by 1.7%, or 22 180.
The estimated differences in fertility are the most in conditions, among the “oldest results of mother and child health”, the study suggests.