Reasons To Rejoice: 22K Babies Born As A Result Of Pro-Life Protections

A new study has revealed that over 22,000 babies have been born thanks to pro-life protection laws that have been enacted in 14 states following the Dobbs Supreme Court decision in 2022 that reversed Roe v. Wade.

The report, published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that 22,180 "excess births" occurred in the 18 months that followed the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision in 14 states where pro-life laws (ranging from near-complete to six-week protections) have been put in place.

On Wednesday, Michael New, an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, joined "Washington Watch" to analyze the report's findings.

"First off, the Journal of the American Medical Association is not a conservative or Christian publication -- it's a secular, frankly, fairly liberal academic journal," he noted. "They're not going to go out of their way to highlight the impact of pro-life laws. So the fact that a mainstream journal published this finding is good news."

"It's very rigorous," he continued. "They looked at 12 years of birth data from 2012 to 2023. ... And I think what's important about this study is it looks at birth data. One thing that's tricky post-Dobbs is counting abortions. Women can go out of state. They can get abortions in other countries. They can sometimes order these chemical abortion drugs through the mail. 

So I always tell pro-life audiences that abortions are hard to count, but babies are easy to count. The government doesn't do a ... whole lot well, but it can count the number of children being born. So if we see an increase in babies being born in states that enact pro-life laws, that's very powerful statistical evidence that these pro-life laws are saving lives."

New went on to argue that another claim made by the JAMA study, that infant mortality rates have increased 6% higher than expected, is misleading.

"If you take a look at the longer data that we have on infant mortality that goes into the second quarter of 2024, you actually see a decrease -- they cut the data point off," he observed. "So if you look at the longer term trends in infant mortality, you do actually see a long term decrease. Dobbs has not caused the public health problems that some people have predicted. 

Since Dobbs has come down, there's been actually an overall decrease in both maternal mortality and infant mortality nationwide. So these concerns about public health problems caused by pro-life laws are overblown. Pro-life laws are good for public health. Countries like Poland, they have the strongest pro-life laws in all of Europe and also have among the very lowest, if not the lowest, maternal mortality rate."

In response to those who argue that laws allowing abortion are good for public health, New pointed out that the statistics say otherwise and that every life has dignity and worth.

"I think pro-life laws can protect both mother and child," he argued. "I think the pro-life laws are consistent with good public health. I think when you do see an increase in infant mortality, in some cases it's because there's more children born with congenital defects. 

That's certainly a difficult situation, but you have to remember that the pro-life laws aren't causing those defects, they're protecting those children. So instead of facing a ruthless, horrible death because of an abortion, they're at least living out the natural course of their life and dying a natural death. I know that's a tough situation, I think all life is precious."

New, who also serves as an assistant professor of Social Research at The Catholic University of America, further contended that despite the rise in the use of abortion drugs, a number of other studies beyond the JAMA report have likewise confirmed a rise in births post-Dobbs. 

"This is not the only study. There were three studies done after the Texas Heartbeat Act was enacted, one of which I did, showing that the Texas Heartbeat Act saved over 1,000 babies every month. Again, looking at Texas birth data, a study we have from the Institute of Labor Economics found that in 2023 alone, 32,000 more children were born because of pro-life laws."

Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, was also encouraged by the JAMA study's finding.

"The over 22,000 babies that were born as a result of pro-life laws are such a gift to our country and our world," she told The Washington Stand. "Think of the lives those sweet little ones will impact and the joy they will bring! No one can imagine the potential that every single human being has -- in saving these babies, these pro-life laws have completely changed the future of America for the better. Praise God!"

Originally published at The Washington Stand