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Study shows increase in infant deaths after abortion ban in US
A recent study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics found a significant increase in infant deaths in the months following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. They found that the infant mortality rate in the US was higher than normal for several months after the Dobbs decision and never fell to a lower than expected rate. Read on to know more.
Increase in infant deaths after abortion ban in America
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A new study shows a significant increase in infant deaths in the months following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The study was published in JAMA Pediatrics on Monday. The study also reported that most of these babies had congenital anomalies or birth defects.
“This is evidence of a national ripple effect, regardless of the state-level situation,” said Dr. Parvati Singh, an assistant professor of epidemiology at The Ohio State University College of Public Health and lead author of the new study.
Singh and co-author Dr. Maria Gallo, professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research at The Ohio State University College of Public Health, compared infant mortality rates for the 18 months following the Dobbs decision against historical trends.
According to a CNN report, they found that infant mortality rates in the US were higher than normal in the several months following the Dobbs decision and never dropped to lower than expected rates.
Infant mortality rates in October 2022, March 2023 and April 2023 were higher than expected. The rates were about 7% higher than normal, leading to an average of 247 more infant deaths each month.
The new study also said that about 80% of the excess infant deaths could be attributed to congenital anomalies, which was higher than expected in six of the 18 months following the Dobbs decision.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Singh said. Mortality rate is the end result of any health condition. This is a very strong indicator. “It may be representative of underlying morbidity and underlying difficulty.”
Other research has found that states with abortion restrictions have increased births. Experts say some of this increase is linked to a disproportionate increase in the number of women who are giving birth to fetuses with fatal congenital anomalies.
“Whether the pregnancy was wanted or unwanted, we know that many of these pregnancies would have ended in abortion,” said Dr. Ushma Upadhyay, associate professor in the department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. “Did people have access to those services?”
She was not involved in the new study but researches abortion trends in the US. “The well-being of a pregnant person is inextricably linked to the well-being of the pregnancy,” Upadhyay said. They said restrictions on abortion could impact access to and willingness to seek prenatal care and comprehensive support systems, and the barriers could be compounded.
She added, “Those who face the most structural barriers in terms of poverty, lower levels of education, food insecurity, and other life stressors are less likely to access abortion care, and these factors are associated with poor pregnancy and birth outcomes.” “Also increases the risk.”
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