Researchers at the Ohio State University released findings this week that indicated infant mortality rates increased after the Supreme Court reveresed Roe v. Wade in 2022.
According to the research, infant mortality increased nationally by 7% after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling. There was also a 10% jump in infants born with genetic and chromosomal disorders in the months following the ruling. This increases were noticed in the 7-14 month period following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The researchers say other studies have yielded similar results.
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“I’m not sure that people expected infant mortality rates to increase following Dobbs. It’s not necessarily what people were thinking about. But when you restrict access to health care it can cause a broader impact on public health than can be foreseen,” said Maria Gallo, an OSU professor of epidemiology.
The research did not reflect state by state variations, but the study’s authors said they expect impacts to be more pronounced in states with more restrictive abortion laws.
Researchers said they accounted for routine variations that could occur during the course of a year.
“Birth outcomes are usually pretty stable in any population, and in a large population like the entire U.S., infant mortality is typically quite consistent except for some predictable seasonal peaks and valleys,” study co-author Parvati Singh said.
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The researchers say it’s possible this spike in infant mortality was temporary.
“Will this continue past this time period? That’s an open question,” Gallo said. “It could be that, yes, it will because (abortion care) access is shut down in some states. But it also could be that eventually more state policymakers are seeing that this isn’t what people in the state want and more will pass constitutional amendments to protect access.”
