Fertility rates show pro-life laws saved 22,000 lives in 2023, study finds
null / Credit: maxim ibragimov/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Feb 14, 2025 / 18:05 pm (CNA).
Here is a roundup of recent pro-life- and abortion-related news.
Pro-life policies save lives, study finds
Following the adoption of pro-life laws protecting unborn children across many states, a recent study found there were more births than anticipated in the United States — more than 22,000 additional births.
A Feb. 13 study published on JAMA Network analyzed the impact of recent pro-life laws by looking at state-level fertility information from 2012 to 2023. The study found that fertility rates increased in 2023 — the first full year after the U.S. Supreme Court put abortion issues back into the hands of the states.
The number is a powerful indication of the impact of pro-life laws, according to pro-life expert Michael New, a senior associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute and assistant professor of practice at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America.
But this week, National Public Radio drew attention to reports by nearly a dozen pro-life states that reported zero or very few abortions in 2023, pointing out that these official records do not account for illegal abortions.
Many factors impact abortion data tracking. Chemical abortions via abortion pills have become increasingly accessible as the FDA has decreased regulations such as in-person requirements for prescriptions. Meanwhile, the rise of shield laws — implemented by pro-abortion state governments such as California, Colorado, New York, and others — helps protect abortionists who send abortion drugs via mail to women and girls in states where the drug is restricted or illegal.
But New noted that “in the post-Dobbs era, the most accurate way to analyze the impact of pro-life laws is through birth data.”
“That is because some women are able to circumvent pro-life laws by obtaining abortions in other states, obtaining abortions in other countries, acquiring chemical abortion pills through mail, or getting abortions outside the formal health care system,” New told CNA. “As such, the abortion statistics released by state health departments may not reflect the actual incidence of abortion.”
“However, if more babies are being born after pro-life laws take effect, that is powerful statistical evidence that more unintended pregnancies are being carried to term — and lives are being saved — as a result of the pro-life law,” New said.
In fact, given the limitations of the study, New suspects it “undercounts the lives saved to some extent” because it considers only abortion bans and heartbeat acts, not additional post-Dobbs gestational age limits.
Maternal mortality reaches lowest point since 2018
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported an almost 17% decrease in the maternal mortality rate in 2023 — its lowest point since 2018.
The maternal mortality rate dropped to 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births from 22.3 in 2022, according to a February report by the National Center for Health Statistics. This continues a trend in decreasing maternity mortality rates since 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned and many states began to institute protections for unborn children.
While pro-abortion advocates have expressed concerns that increasing abortion restrictions harm women’s health, mortality rates are on a steady decline, according to the CDC data.
From 2018 to 2019, maternal deaths had increased, peaking in 2021 and then decreasing in 2022 and 2023. The statistics includes a woman dying while pregnant as well as of pregnancy-related causes within 42 days of an abortion.
The maternal mortality rate decreased for all racial demographics except for Black women, among whom there was a slight increase, which the CDC noted was not statistically significant. Though, notably, the number has not decreased with the other demographics. Asian women also had a statistically insignificant decrease in maternal mortality, according to the study.
Texas and Louisiana slap $ 100,000 fine, extradition order, on New York doctor who mailed abortion pills
Texas and Louisiana — states with many laws protecting unborn children from abortion — issued a $ 100,000 fine and an extradition order, respectively, to a New York doctor who mailed abortion pills illegally into the state.
New York on Thursday rejected the request from Louisiana to extradite the doctor who was charged by Louisiana with prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor. A Texas judge the same day ordered the same doctor to stop prescribing and sending abortion pills to patients in Texas and to pay a penalty of more than $ 100,000.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul refused to honor Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s request to arrest and send Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who was indicted last month by a Louisiana grand jury, to Louisiana.
While Texas and Louisiana have strong protections for unborn babies, New York has a “telemedicine abortion shield law” protecting abortion providers who send telehealth abortion pills to women and girls in states where it is illegal or restricted. Abortionists have sent more than 10,000 abortion pills per month to patients in states with restrictions on abortion under the shield laws, according to the New York Times.
Texas Judge Bryan Gantt of Collin County District Court signed an order permanently banning Carpenter from prescribing abortion drugs to Texas residents. But New York’s shield law prohibits cooperation with out-of-state legal actions, so Carpenter did not respond to the suit nor appear for the hearing.
Democrats push restrictions for crisis pregnancy centers
Democratic lawmakers are pushing for the federal government to regulate pregnancy resource centers with the “Stop Anti-Abortion Disinformation (SAD) Act.” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon reintroduced the SAD Act on Thursday.
The SAD Act is designed to enable the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to regulate pregnancy centers designed to support women to choose life. The bill would allow the FTC to take disciplinary actions against pregnancy clinics by levying fines for “misleading” or providing “false” information about abortion or contraception.
With a Republican majority in Congress, the bill is unlikely to pass. Pregnancy resource centers outnumber abortion clinics in the U.S., offering pregnant women support and resources, and providing an alternative to abortion.
The nearly 3,000 pro-life pregnancy resource centers in the United States provided nearly $ 367.9 million worth of life-affirming pregnancy services and material goods to clients and their families in 2022, a 2024 report found.
