(National Review) On Thursday, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) released a study on the impact of recently enacted pro-life laws. It analyzed state level fertility data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia from 2012 to 2023. It found that state level abortion bans and heartbeat acts resulted in statistically significant increases in state fertility rates. Overall, it estimates that over 22,000 lives have been saved by recently enacted pro-life laws. Good news!
It is heartening to see an analytically rigorous study demonstrate the lifesaving effects of pro-life laws. That said, the JAMA study probably understates the impact of some recent pro-life policy changes. First, it considers only the effects of state abortion bans and heartbeat acts. The impact of other gestational age limits was not considered in the JAMA study.
Second, it fails to consider the impact of certain pro-life laws, such as those in Ohio and South Carolina, that were in effect for a limited period. Finally, litigation in states where abortion remained technically legal may have had an impact, as some facilities might have been reluctant to perform abortions.
The JAMA study is unique because it is the first study that analyzes the impact of recent pro-life laws on different demographic groups. The study found that pro-life laws had a statistically larger impact on the fertility rates of unmarried women, African Americans, Hispanics, and women on Medicaid. The study also considered the impact of individual pro-life laws. Some state pro-life laws, such as the those enacted in Texas, had a larger impact than others.
However, every abortion ban or heartbeat act was correlated with an increase in the state fertility rate. In short, every pro-life law that was analyzed saved lives.
This JAMA study adds to a nice body of research which shows that recently enacted pro-life laws are increasing fertility rates and saving lives. Three separate studies analyzing Texas’s birth data have shown that the Texas Heartbeat Act saved approximately 1,000 lives a month. Another study by the Institute of Labor Economics showed that recently enacted pro-life laws saved 32,000 lives in the first six months of 2023.
Since Dobbs, overall abortion numbers may not have declined as much as pro-lifers would have hoped. However, pro-lifers should take heart. A growing body of research is showing that recently enacted pro-life laws are, in fact, saving thousands of lives.
Editor’s Note: This article was published at National Review and is reprinted here with permission.
