Infant mortality rises in Texas after abortion ban

(From L) Plaintiffs Damla Karsan, Austin Dennard, Samantha Casiano, Taylor Edwards, Center for Reproductive Rights attorney Molly Duane and Am Anda Zu Rawski attends a press conference outside the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas on July 20, 2023. Getty | SUZANNE CORDEIRO </figure><p>Deaths of babies born in Texas rose 11.5% in 2022, one year after the state banned abortion after six weeks, a period before most women know they are pregnant.</p> <p>In 2022, some 2,200 infants died, according to data obtained by CNN via a public information request. That's 227 more deaths than the state recorded the previous year, before the restrictive law took effect.</p> <p>Infant deaths from severe genetic and birth defects increased by 21.6%.</p> <p>The overall trend of increasing numbers of babies dying in the Lone Star State is reversing a nearly 10-year decline in infant mortality, CNN noted. Between 2014 and 2021, infant deaths in Texas have dropped nearly 15%.</p> <p>The grim new stats should only get worse. Abortion bans and restrictions are known to increase infant deaths, maternal deaths and maternal suffering. And the United States already has the worst maternal and infant mortality rates of any other high-income country in the world.</p> <p>In 2020, the overall maternal mortality rate in the United States was 24 deaths per 100,000 live births, more than three times the rate of most other high-income countries, according to analysis by the Commonwealth Fund. But for black Americans, the rate is much higher – a staggering 55 per 100,000. Across the border in Canada, the rate is 8 per 100,000, and the UK sits at 6.5 per 100,000. Infant deaths in the US were also the highest of high-income countries in 2020, at 5.4 per 1,000 live births, while the average was 4.1. In Canada the rate was 4.5 per 1000 and in the UK it was 3.6 per 1000.</p> <p>

While other high-income countries have seen improvements in infant and maternal mortality rates in recent years, the United States has seen a downward trend. And the abortion bans and restrictions sweeping conservative states are expected to make matters worse. Even in Texas, the declines could worsen further in the current year due to more restrictions on abortion since the start of 2022. When the Supreme Court struck down the Constitutional right to abortion in June of that year, a trigger law in the state banned abortion at all stages except in medical emergencies, which are undefined.

"Without mercy"

Despite all of the existing data on the dangers of abortion restrictions and bans, Texas lawmakers and officials are hearing this week from the lived experiences of pregnant women subject to the bans. A group of 13 women and two doctors are suing the state, claiming the new laws are unclear and harmful.

Samantha Casiano spoke on Wednesday about the death of her baby. Casiano learned at 20 weeks pregnant (when anatomical scans are done) that her fetus was not viable due to anencephaly, a condition in which the brain and skull do not fully form. Due to the Texas ban, she was forced to carry the pregnancy and give birth to a baby girl, whom she named Halo.

Casiano cried and vomited on the stand as she described...

  Technology   Jul 21, 2023   0   46  Add to Reading List
Infant mortality rises in Texas after abortion ban
(From L) Plaintiffs Damla Karsan, Austin Dennard, Samantha Casiano, Taylor Edwards, Center for Reproductive Rights attorney Molly Duane and Am Anda Zu Rawski attends a press conference outside the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas on July 20, 2023. Getty | SUZANNE CORDEIRO </figure><p>Deaths of babies born in Texas rose 11.5% in 2022, one year after the state banned abortion after six weeks, a period before most women know they are pregnant.</p> <p>In 2022, some 2,200 infants died, according to data obtained by CNN via a public information request. That's 227 more deaths than the state recorded the previous year, before the restrictive law took effect.</p> <p>Infant deaths from severe genetic and birth defects increased by 21.6%.</p> <p>The overall trend of increasing numbers of babies dying in the Lone Star State is reversing a nearly 10-year decline in infant mortality, CNN noted. Between 2014 and 2021, infant deaths in Texas have dropped nearly 15%.</p> <p>The grim new stats should only get worse. Abortion bans and restrictions are known to increase infant deaths, maternal deaths and maternal suffering. And the United States already has the worst maternal and infant mortality rates of any other high-income country in the world.</p> <p>In 2020, the overall maternal mortality rate in the United States was 24 deaths per 100,000 live births, more than three times the rate of most other high-income countries, according to analysis by the Commonwealth Fund. But for black Americans, the rate is much higher – a staggering 55 per 100,000. Across the border in Canada, the rate is 8 per 100,000, and the UK sits at 6.5 per 100,000. Infant deaths in the US were also the highest of high-income countries in 2020, at 5.4 per 1,000 live births, while the average was 4.1. In Canada the rate was 4.5 per 1000 and in the UK it was 3.6 per 1000.</p> <p>

While other high-income countries have seen improvements in infant and maternal mortality rates in recent years, the United States has seen a downward trend. And the abortion bans and restrictions sweeping conservative states are expected to make matters worse. Even in Texas, the declines could worsen further in the current year due to more restrictions on abortion since the start of 2022. When the Supreme Court struck down the Constitutional right to abortion in June of that year, a trigger law in the state banned abortion at all stages except in medical emergencies, which are undefined.

"Without mercy"

Despite all of the existing data on the dangers of abortion restrictions and bans, Texas lawmakers and officials are hearing this week from the lived experiences of pregnant women subject to the bans. A group of 13 women and two doctors are suing the state, claiming the new laws are unclear and harmful.

Samantha Casiano spoke on Wednesday about the death of her baby. Casiano learned at 20 weeks pregnant (when anatomical scans are done) that her fetus was not viable due to anencephaly, a condition in which the brain and skull do not fully form. Due to the Texas ban, she was forced to carry the pregnancy and give birth to a baby girl, whom she named Halo.

Casiano cried and vomited on the stand as she described...

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