Abortion supporters falsely claim that abortion bans cause higher maternal mortality. But, new data from the CDC shows that maternal mortality is down in 2023 even after 20 states passed abortion bans to protect moms and babies.
In fact, the new CDC numbers show that the maternal mortality rate was cut almost in half from 2021 before the Supreme Court issued its Dobbs ruling until last year when 20 states had passed abortion bans.
If claims from pro-abortion groups were true the maternal death rate would be higher.
The agency on Thursday released a report detailing the final maternal mortality data for 2022.
About 680 women died last year during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth, according to provisional CDC data. That’s down from 817 deaths in 2022 and 1,205 in 2021, when it was the highest level in more than 50 years.
The CDC counts women who die while pregnant, during childbirth and up to 42 days after birth from conditions considered related to pregnancy. Excessive bleeding, blood vessel blockages and infections are leading causes.
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There were about 19 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2023, according to the provisional data. That’s in line with rates seen in 2018 and 2019.
Experts confirm that higher maternal mortality is not linked to pro-life laws or abortion bans.
The former director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, demonstrated that a comparison between the two statistics is inappropriate. In 2004, she wrote that maternal mortality ratios and abortion mortality rates “are conceptually different and are used by CDC for different public health purposes.”
In fact studies show that childbirth is better for women than abortion. Studies from countries with good data show that a woman is at least three times as likely to die from any cause following abortion than after childbirth.
Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst, a senior research associate at the DeNicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame and a board-certified OB-GYN, told a U.S. House committee that legalized abortion does not help reduce maternal mortality. On the contrary, countries with pro-life laws have some of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world, she said.
“… until recently in countries where abortion was criminalized and prohibited, I’m thinking particularly of Chile, Ireland and, I think, Cyprus had the lowest rates of maternal mortality in the world. For several years consecutively, Ireland had zero maternal mortality at a time when abortion was completely illegal,” Wubbenhorst said at the time.
Many studies suggest the widespread legalization and availability of elective abortions harm women as well as their unborn babies. In a column at The Federalist in October, Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, a radiology specialist in Florida, said some researchers have found that abortions are more dangerous than childbirth for mothers.
Pro-life laws save lives: mothers and babies. In Texas alone, a new study by Johns Hopkins found that nearly 10,000 more babies were born after its heartbeat law went into effect in 2021. In the past year since the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, researchers believe tens of thousands more babies also have been saved.
Meanwhile, there have not been any reports of pregnant mothers dying because of pro-life laws. Every abortion ban or restriction includes clear language that protects pregnant mothers as well as their unborn babies. Pro-life laws include exceptions to save the life of the mother and allow miscarriage care.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade will lead to more lives being saved – a fact that abortion activists want Americans to ignore.
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