Thirty-Two Thousand
That’s the estimated number of babies born in this country since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade that otherwise would have had their lives terminated via abortion.
A study conducted by the Institute of Labor Economics says that 32,000 babies were born in states that enacted some form of abortion restriction.
The trio of researchers who conducted the study said in the first six months of 2023 alone, births rose by an average of 2.3 percent in states enforcing total abortion bans, compared to a control group of states where abortion laws were unchanged…that’s how they extrapolate the 32,000 number.
The basic data comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC.
They also note that as of the first of this month, 14 states are enforcing bans on abortion in nearly all circumstances, and 23 percent of U.S. women of reproductive age have sustained an increase in driving distance to the nearest abortion facility…from an average of 43 miles one-way before Dobbs, to 330 miles now.
And further, to show context, the study reports that in 2020, approximately 1 in 5 pregnancies—20 percent of all pregnancies—ended in abortion. At the time they seek abortion, the researchers note that 75 percent of mothers are low-income, 59 percent have previously given birth, and 55 percent report a recent life event such as losing a job, or falling behind on rent.
We knew there would be impact resulting from the court ruling. Now, some data to show in what ways.
