Texas abortion ban hit women's mental health

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-06-19 01:00

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US scientists say Texan women's mental health took a hit following the introduction of an abortion ban in 2021. The team compared the mental health of 4,323 mothers in Texas with the mental health of 152,573 mothers in 29 states that did not ban abortion. They found Texan women were more likely to report their mental health as 'fair' or 'poor' following the ban than those in the states without a ban, and women with kids with public insurance saw the biggest impact on their mental health. The findings highlight the link between abortion bans and worsening women's mental health, and the need to boost support in post-Dobbs America, the authors conclude

News release

From: JAMA

The Texas Abortion Ban and Maternal Mental Health

About The Study: In this repeated cross-sectional study, the implementation of an abortion ban in Texas was associated with a worsening of maternal mental health among reproductive-age mothers relative to mothers in states without such bans. These results underscore the association of abortion restrictions with maternal mental health and highlight the need to strengthen support in the post-Dobbs policy environment.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, USA

Funder: This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (grant No. R01MH132128) and the National Institute of Nursing Research (grant No. R01NR020859).

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