New data shows that banning abortion would lead to more maternal deaths than previously thought, a critical finding less than a week after the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to overturn Roe v. Wade.听
According to new 听based on newly available data from 2020, such a ban would increase maternal mortality听by 24%, a 14% increase from the previous data from 2017.
In this study, researchers focused only on how maternal mortality is impacted by abortion simply because data shows staying pregnant carries a higher risk of death than having an abortion. The Centers for Disease Control reported 听and that the .
Other factors, like how society will facilitate access to abortion for those living in states where it鈥檚 illegal or how criminalization will impact health care seeking, were not factored in.听
鈥淭he prior estimates relied on abortion rates, births听and maternal mortality rates as of five years ago. Since then, abortions have increased, births have decreased and maternal mortality rates have worsened,鈥� said Amanda Stevenson, an assistant professor of sociology at CU Boulder and lead author of the paper.
Stevenson and coauthors Leslie Root and Jane Menken鈥攁ll researchers in the 鈥攅stimate that听in the first year following a nationwide abortion ban, the number of maternal deaths would increase from a baseline of 861 to 969 (a 13% increase). In subsequent years, maternal deaths would increase 210 over baseline, a 24% increase.听
Click to enlarge
Chart comparing maternal mortality in states where abortion is or will become illegal
For Black people, the numbers are even more alarming: The expected increase in maternal deaths if abortion were to be banned in every state听jumped 18% to 39%.
鈥淭here is a robust network of Black-led research demonstrating how we can better support Black pregnant people who are at 2-3 times greater risk of dying because they鈥檙e pregnant compared to other groups,鈥� Stevenson said.听
When looking specifically at the 26 states that have already banned or plan to ban abortion following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, researchers found a lot of variation. In states with already high maternal mortality and moderate to high abortion rates鈥攍ike Florida and Georgia鈥攔esearchers estimate maternal deaths to increase by 29%.听
In contrast, states like Nebraska, Missouri and West Virginia which have already made it difficult to get an abortion are expected to see little to no change just due to the increased risks of staying pregnant.听
Researchers estimate that听if no abortions were permitted in these 26 states in 2020听there would have been 64 more mortality-related deaths. The new findings have not yet been peer reviewed.
To combat this alarming trend, the researchers say helping people in states where abortion is illegal obtain legal access to reproductive care, investing in the maternal health crisis and addressing the shocking inequalities that generate astronomically high levels of maternal mortality are all ways to better support pregnant people in the U.S.
鈥淥ur estimates highlight how we can prevent the post-Dobbs bans on abortion from increasing the already tragically high numbers of deaths due to pregnancy in the U.S.,鈥� Stevenson said. 鈥淧regnancy shouldn鈥檛 kill people鈥攊n fact in other rich countries it very rarely does.鈥�
