the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Feb 17, 2025
Almost immediately after Roe v. Wade was overturned, not only did births increase in states with bans on abortion, but infant deaths increased as well. This happened in the majority of the 14 states that first had abortion bans.
Two studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at births and deaths of infants in all 50 states since 2012. In the first 18 months after Roe fell, there were 22,180 more births in states with bans. The poorest layer of the working population saw the most births.
What that means is, some of the youngest and most vulnerable women faced enormous inequality in accessing abortion in states with bans. Poor women and women of color were already experiencing more birth complications and higher infant death rates before Roe fell.
In the first 18 months of abortion bans, there were 478 more infant deaths than when abortion was still legal. The death rate for infants shot up 6% overall and went up 11% for black infants in states with abortion bans.
According to one researcher, Dr. Suzanne Bell, “all but 94 of the additional 478 infant deaths were in Texas, which has a much larger population than any of the other states with bans.”
Some rise in deaths is because unviable pregnancies now come to term. In states with bans, the limits of medical science are ignored. More fetuses with irreversible developmental defects now die days or weeks after birth, increasing infant mortality.
The results are in. Abortion bans are killing babies.