After the bans took effect, infant mortality rates were 6.26 per 1,000 live births, compared with an expected rate of 5.93 per 1,000, a relative increase of 5.60%.
Among non-Hispanic Black infants, there were 11.81 deaths per 1,000 live births after the bans, versus an expected rate of 10.66 per 1,000, an increase of nearly 11%, the researchers said.
Increases in infant mortality have been found in U.S. states that enacted abortion bans or severe restrictions after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling that guaranteed a right to the procedure, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
Across the 14 states where abortions were banned or prohibited after 6 weeks of pregnancy by laws that took effect between September 2021 and August 2022, there have been an estimated 478 infant deaths that would not have occurred if the restrictions were not in place, the researchers said.
Infant deaths from congenital anomalies rose from an expected 1.24 per 1,000 live births to 1.37 per 1,000, a relative increase of 10.87%.
