Provisional data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that contrary to pro-abortion claims that women would die without abortion access, maternal mortality appears to have declined following the fall of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 to pre-COVID numbers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal death as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.”
From March 1, 2019, through February 28, 2020, there were 740 total maternal deaths related to pregnancy. After the COVID-19 pandemic began, the number of maternal deaths began to rise to as high as 1,249 in the year ending February 28, 2022. In the year ending May 31, 2022 — less than a month before the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe — the number of maternal deaths was 1,171.
Screenshot CDC
In the first year following Dobbs — July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023 — the number of maternal deaths dropped to 761, just slightly higher than the number of deaths in the year leading up to COVID. This does not mean that the Dobbs ruling caused the maternal death counts to drop, but it does show that overturning Roe did not increase maternal deaths as abortion advocates claimed it would.
Dr. Calum Miller explained that the maternal mortality rate (MMR) — which looks at how many women die related to pregnancy — is a good indicator of how a nation is doing economically as well as how it cares for women. Malta, arguably the most pro-life nation in the world, has had zero maternal deaths from any cause in the last 12 years. Pro-life Poland also has a very low MMR.
An analysis of the MMRs of countries before and after they legalized abortion revealed that “the link between legal abortion and improved maternal mortality… is the reverse of what its advocates claim.
“Countries that have legalized abortion such as South Africa, India, Nepal, Cambodia, and Guyana have not seen the predicted maternal health benefits. By contrast, several countries that disallow abortion, such as Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Egypt, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Uganda have seen significant reductions in maternal mortality.”
In the U.S. in 1971 and 1972 the MMR was 18.8 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. But since the legalization of abortion via Roe v. Wade in 1972, the MMR has risen. In 2020, it had reached 23.8 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
Meanwhile, after El Salvador banned abortion in 1998, its MMR declined from 155 per 100,000 live births to 46.
While those who sincerely (though wrongly) believe abortion saves lives may be shocked by this, as Secular Pro-Life reported, anyone who is paying attention likely predicted this.
The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) noted, “Research from diverse countries around the world had repeatedly shown that [pro-life] abortion laws do not worsen maternal mortality. Malta and Poland, two countries with robust pro-life laws, have some of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world.”
