According to a recent study from the Johns Hopkins University, Texas has witnessed an increase in infant mortality and birth defects since the imposition of its abortion ban in September 2021.
Published in JAMA Pediatrics, this research revealed that infant mortality rates in Texas went up by 8% in 2022 compared to the United States’ remaining part whose rise was 2%. This translated into 216 more infant deaths than what was anticipated from March until December next year.
The survey examined baby demise rates within Texas vis-à-vis those of twenty-eight other states including some with prohibitions on abortions. Precisely, there was a 23% increase of birth defects deaths experienced within Texas while this declined by 3% for the whole US. In most cases, abortions are prohibited in Texas following cardiac activity detection which often occurs around five or six weeks into pregnancy thereby making it impossible to complete most tests for fetal abnormalities.
Alison Gemmill is an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health and author of the study who explained to USA Today negative aspects regarding abortion bans. She said, “It just points to some of the devastating consequences of abortion bans that maybe people weren’t thinking about when they passed these laws.” She also referred to the fatalities that occurred after the implementation of the Texas heartbeat law as “spillover effects on moms and babies”.
“I think these findings make clear the potentially devastating consequences that abortion bans can have,” said Suzanne Bell, a fertility researcher and co-author of the study, quoted by AP.
This did surprise Bell because she thought infant death doesn’t occur frequently. As such, data could not be analyzed by race or socioeconomic status due to small sample sizes.
Additionally, researchers noted another unexpected factor arising from limited data availability for different population groups such as racial or socio-economic demographics. However, experts like Tiffany Green were not surprised for they have researched extensively on racial inequities in reproductive health.
However, Bell mentioned that the study was limited by small numbers and thus could not make definitive conclusions for specific subpopulations. Hence, there is a need to conduct additional research and provide resources to understand and address larger implications of these policies.
Further, Green stressed the vulnerability of abortion seekers who are often underprivileged individuals suggesting that restricting such rights would only deepen existing health disparities.
In response to the study’s findings, Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris defended the state’s anti-abortion laws during an interview with USA Today. In particular, he highlighted the 2021 heartbeat law arguing that it sought “to save the innocent unborn”, which has now given thousands of children another chance at life.”
