Pro-life laws aren’t driving surge in infant deaths, OB-GYN expert says

CNA Staff, Oct 25, 2024 / 09:15 am

Pro-life laws are not driving a surge in infant mortality, a prominent OB-GYN and pro-life advocate said this week.

Rather, some infants with genetic or congenital abnormalities who might otherwise have been aborted are now being born and passing away, said Dr. Ingrid Skop, an obstetrician and the vice president and director of medical affairs at the Charlotte Lozier Institute.

Several studies published since Roe was repealed in June 2022 claim to have found a link between restrictive abortion policies and higher infant death rates. One study, published in January of this year, alleged that “U.S. states with the most restrictive abortion laws saw 16% more infant deaths” from 2014–2018, before Roe’s repeal.

Another study published this week reached similar conclusions for infant mortality rates post-repeal, finding that “infant mortality was higher than expected, overall and among those with congenital anomalies, for several months after the Dobbs decision.”

Those findings have led to significant media coverage, with pro-abortion supporters citing the data as evidence that abortion bans are harmful not just allegedly to women but to children as well.

‘Now we’re paying attention to them’

Skop told CNA that it’s wrong to link pro-life laws to higher infant mortality rates. 

“There are a lot of pro-abortion media articles that are trying to imply a connection between infant deaths and pro-life laws,” she said, “when what we’re seeing may be natural variations in mortality.” 

Historically, approximately 20% of infant deaths are related to congenital anomalies, Skop said. “Obviously, it’s intuitive that pro-life laws are not causing an increase in those abnormalities occurring in the first place,” she said. 

In many cases, children with genetic abnormalities are now being brought to birth and then dying from those abnormalities after birth, she said. 

“Because we do not care to keep mandatory statistics on any data related to abortion, we do not know how many of these children would have been killed prior to birth through abortion,” she said. “But very likely many died before abortion limitations but their deaths were not counted.” 

“These are children whose abnormalities are significant enough that they would have died at some point,” she said, “but rather than killing them before birth, they’re being born and then dying after birth, when they begin to be counted in our statistics.”

As for the purported rise in total infant mortality, Skop noted that other causes of infant mortality “include deaths from complications of prematurity, sudden infant death syndrome, accidents, or other events.”

“The most recent study did not delineate between pro-life and pro-choice states, so we don’t know if deaths are increased in pro-life states, but if that association is confirmed, we need to seriously examine possible contributing factors unique to these states,” she said.

Such factors “may include increased poverty, family breakdown, maternity care deserts, or lack of health care access. Merely blaming abortion limitations is dishonest and avoids directing attention to the real causes.”

Some researchers have further argued that total abortions have actually increased in the wake of Roe’s repeal despite the large number of states that have enacted partial or near-total bans on the procedure. Skop cautioned that pro-life advocates should be “skeptical” of such claims.

She argued that much of the research showing increases in abortion relies on what are effectively estimates, such as tracking the number of abortion pills dispensed without actually confirming that the mothers took the pills.

“A woman could order [the drugs] online and then change her mind, or could request them just to have them on hand if she should become pregnant,” she said. “There’s no evidence these abortions are occurring; rather it’s just that these are drugs being distributed.”

It’s “probably more helpful to look at what’s happening with our birth rate,” she argued. “And I think that it’s been demonstrated, in pro-life states, that our birth rate has increased slightly.” Some fertility data have indeed indicated that births have risen in some places with abortion bans. 

“So that tells me that abortions are being avoided, that women are choosing to bring their babies to birth,” Skop said.

“And that’s a good thing,” she added. “In my practice, women may consider an abortion, but if they choose to continue the pregnancy, they inevitably are happy that they did.” 

“Most initially undesired pregnancies become very much wanted babies,” she said.