Births have increased in states with abortion bans, research finds | CNN
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Nearly a quarter of people seeking an abortion in the United States were unable to get one due to bans that took effect after the Supreme Court Dobbs decision, researchers estimate. In the first half of 2023, states with abortion bans had an average fertility rate that was 2.3% higher than in states where abortion was not restricted, according to the analysis — leading to about 32,000 more births than expected.

Nearly a quarter of people seeking an abortion in the United States were unable to get one due to bans that took effect after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, researchers estimate. In the first half of 2023, states with abortion bans had an average fertility rate that was 2.3% higher than states where abortion was not restricted, according to the analysis – leading to about 32,000 more births than expected.

The findings are based on preliminary births data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The research has not yet been peer-reviewed but experts say the data paints a clear picture about the direct impact of abortion restrictions.

“It’s an assault on reproductive autonomy,” said Alison Gemmill, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She was not involved in the new analysis, but has published research on the effect that a strict abortion law had on births in Texas.

  • Ranvier@sopuli.xyz
    121·
    1 year ago

    Not to mention all the obgyns fleeing those states. Doctors want to help people, but they don’t want to be thrown in jail for life (and they certainty can’t help anyone from there). The procedures used for abortion are an integral part of reproductive medicine and save many lives. In these states prosecutors and judges are breathing down doctors necks, second guessing their judgment on when someone is critically ill enough to warrant an abortion. There’s already women in those states who know their pregnancy is non viable, know they need an abortion, know that continuing on with the pregnancy will put their lives at risk, but the doctors that still remain have their hands tied to help until they start decompensating when it may already be too late.

    Residents being trained in those states are already having trouble getting experience with these important life saving procedures. In some cases programs are trying work around like sending residents to train in other states for a time. But getting a short temporary rotation with just a few procedures is not the same, and surgeries are safer the more repetitions a surgeon has had. Abortion bans are making the entire country less safe, especially so if they get their way and ban it across the entire country and it becomes near impossible to get good training anywhere. Besides all the other obvious implications.