How have US abortion bans impacted a woman's risk of pregnancy-related death?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-01-22 03:00

International

What does this mean?

Jump to: MultimediaAttachmentsExpert Reaction

Bans on abortion are likely exposing pregnant women to a higher risk of death, according to international researchers who used US birth and mortality data from 2018-2021 to calculate how many women die from pregnancy-related complications compared to deaths from abortion-related complications. Over the time period, the researchers say there were just under 15 million births and about 3.6 million abortions. After removing non-specific and COVID-19 related deaths, the researchers say there were 3,065 deaths linked to pregnancy and 17 linked to abortions over the four years. Since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision, the researchers say there is evidence state-specific abortion bans have led to more women going through with pregnancies they would have otherwise terminated, and these women are being forced to take on increased health risks as pregnancy has a much higher mortality rate than abortion.