Supporting Children and Families Following Abortion Restrictions

In this issue of JAMA, 2 articles characterize the impact of recent state abortion restrictions. Applying observational causal inference methods, the authors estimate a 1.7% increase in birth rates from abortion restrictions in affected states (corresponding to about 22 000 excess births) and a 6% increase in infant mortality (about 500 excess deaths) from 2021 to 2023. Excess births occurred disproportionately among racially and ethnically minoritized, low-income, and unmarried individuals. Among births linked to abortion bans, infant mortality rates were about 4 times higher than rates in the general population. The authors note that this likely resulted both as a consequence of abortion bans requiring pregnant individuals to carry fetuses with lethal abnormalities to term and from excess births occurring disproportionately among individuals at high risk for complications.