States That Adopted Abortion Bans Have Higher Infant Mortality

Feb 26, 2025

TUESDAY, Feb. 25, 2025 (HealthDay News) — U.S. states that adopted abortion bans have higher-than-expected infant mortality and higher fertility rates than expected, according to two studies published online Feb. 13 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Alison Gemmill, Ph.D., from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and colleagues examined the association of abortion bans with changes in infant mortality in 14 states that implemented complete or six-week abortion bans. The researchers found that infant mortality was higher than expected in states that adopted abortion bans (observed versus expected, 6.26 versus 5.93 per 1,000 live births; relative increase, 5.60 percent). During the months affected by bans, this resulted in an estimated 478 excess infant deaths in the 14 states with bans. The estimated increases were higher among non-Hispanic Black versus other racial and ethnic groups (11.81 versus 10.66 expected infant deaths per 1,000 live births; relative increase, 10.98 percent).

Suzanne O. Bell, Ph.D., also from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and colleagues examined heterogeneity in the association of abortion bans with changes in fertility in the United States using data from 2012 through 2023 for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The researchers found that in states that adopted abortion bans, there were an estimated 1.01 additional births above expectation per 1,000 females aged 15 through 44 years (60.55 observed versus 59.54 expected; 1.70 percent increase), equivalent to 22,180 excess births. Variation was seen by state and subgroup.

“Results from these analyses provide robust evidence that U.S. abortion bans are associated with greater than expected fertility in states that banned abortion,” Bell and colleagues write.

Abstract/Full Text – Gemmill (subscription or payment may be required)

Abstract/Full Text – Bell (subscription or payment may be required)

Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)