Infant Mortality Linked to Abortion Bans: New Study Reveals Disturbing Trends

Research from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reveals that restrictive abortion laws contribute to increased infant deaths and disproportionally affect disadvantaged populations in the United States.

Infant mortality rates in the United States have surged in states that have enacted stricter abortion laws since the 2022 reversal of the Roe v. Wade ruling, according to alarming new findings. The study estimates that approximately 478 infant deaths have occurred across 14 states that have imposed bans or significant restrictions on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy—deaths that researchers believe would not have happened if such laws were not in place. Alison Gemmill, who co-led the study, emphasized that "restrictive abortion policies" could be undoing years of advancements in reducing infant mortality in the nation.

The Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturned the half-century precedent established by Roe v. Wade, which had safeguarded a woman's constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy up until around the 24th week of gestation. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have revealed that the rise in infant mortality chiefly affects newborns with congenital disabilities and disproportionately impacts already vulnerable groups. These include Black infants and families where parents are unmarried, younger, or lack higher education, particularly in southern states.

As of January 2025, the legal landscape reveals that 17 states have enacted nearly complete abortion bans, though some allow exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or threats to maternal health. States enforcing total bans include Idaho, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. Others, like Florida, Georgia, Iowa, and South Carolina, restrict the procedure after six weeks, while further limitations exist in Nebraska, North Carolina, and Utah, with bans after 12 and 18 weeks, respectively.

The troubling statistics from the study show that in states with stringent abortion policies, infant mortality climbed to 6.26 per 1,000 live births—higher than the expected 5.93 per 1,000, representing a 5.6% increase. Moreover, deaths attributed to congenital malformations escalated from 1.24 to 1.37 per 1,000, marking a significant rise of over 10%. For non-Hispanic Black infants, mortality rates increased to 11.81 from an expected 10.66 per 1,000—a nearly 11% increase.

The study indicates that some of this increase in infant death may be linked to cases where women are denied abortions due to non-viable pregnancies, where the baby cannot survive outside the womb. Researchers noted, however, that the reasons behind rising mortality from other causes were less clear. Additionally, the bans seem to adversely affect disadvantaged communities that are already at higher risk for infant mortality and encounter delays in receiving critical healthcare services.

In parallel analysis, the Johns Hopkins research also concluded that abortion bans have coincided with a spike in fertility rates, revealing that in states affected by the restrictions, births per 1,000 women of reproductive age increased by 1.7%, translating to approximately 22,180 additional births. Notably, states with the poorest maternal and child health outcomes showed the most significant uptick in fertility rates.

The repercussions of the Supreme Court's decision and state-level restrictions raise urgent questions about the future of maternal and child health across the United States, as communities grapple with the implications of these restrictive policies.