In the year and a half since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned the federal right to abortion, the U.S. has seen a troubling rise in infant deaths. New research, published in JAMA Pediatrics, shows that infant mortality rates have climbed, with hundreds more infants dying than expected, especially those born with severe birth defects.
Researchers from Ohio State University, Dr. Parvati Singh and Dr. Maria Gallo, compared infant mortality rates for 18 months post-Dobbs against historical trends. The results were alarming: infant deaths spiked in several months following the decision, with mortality rates 7% higher than usual in October 2022, March 2023, and April 2023. On average, this translated to an additional 247 infant deaths during each of these months.
A staggering 80% of these deaths were linked to congenital anomalies, which are often detected in utero. These birth defects can range from mild to severe, affecting organs like the heart or spine, and in some cases, the babies only survive a few months after birth.
“This is a very sharp indicator of a much larger problem,” said Dr. Singh, lead author of the study. “It shows that people aren’t getting the care they need, and the impact is being felt across the country, regardless of state-level abortion laws.”
This trend is not limited to states with abortion bans. However, earlier research had already shown that Texas experienced a spike in infant deaths after implementing a six-week abortion ban in 2021, and experts believe similar bans in other states post-Dobbs are contributing to this national ripple effect.
Dr. Ushma Upadhyay, a leading researcher on abortion trends at the University of California, San Francisco, explained that many of the infants who died were carried to term despite being diagnosed with lethal congenital anomalies, cases where abortions would have likely occurred before the bans. “Many of these pregnancies, whether wanted or not, would have ended in abortion if the services were available,” Upadhyay said.
Abortion bans don’t just prevent access to the procedure itself—they can affect broader health care for pregnant people. Experts say that the well-being of pregnant individuals is closely tied to infant outcomes, and with barriers to prenatal care and essential services, the risks to both mothers and babies rise. The burden often falls hardest on those facing poverty, food insecurity, and other structural barriers.
“These bans are creating ripple effects beyond reproductive rights,” said Dr. Alison Gemmill of Johns Hopkins University, who led research linking Texas’ abortion restrictions to rising infant mortality. “People simply can’t overcome all the hurdles these laws put in place, and the result is more lives lost.”
