The significant increase in infant death rates in Texas occurred after the state passed its extreme law banning abortions after six weeks and while the national infant death rate dropped. The fact that Texas’ law was enacted about nine months before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade makes the state both a good petri dish for comparing Texas death rates with national statistics and as an omen for what’s to come in other states that have since enacted draconian anti-abortion laws.
The Washington Post has more of the heartbreaking details in the Johns Hopkins University research findings:
Between 2021 and 2022, the infant mortality rate increased by 8.3 percent in Texas compared to a 2.2 percent increase nationally. The Texas rate reflected a 12.9 percent increase in the actual number of deaths of children before their first birthday.
And while the death rate of babies 28 days old or younger fell in other states overall, it increased by 5.8 percent in Texas.
Infant deaths from fetal abnormalities, the leading cause of death for babies under a year of age, rose by 22.9 percent in Texas in 2022 but fell by 3.1 percent for the rest of the country, the study found. Infant deaths from unintentional injuries also increased by 20.7 percent in Texas in the same period, compared to 1.1 percent nationally.
