Study: More children are born with survivable heart defects due to pro-life laws

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, abortion activists have looked for ways to prove that states with pro-life laws are harming women and children. The latest discriminatory attempt is a study published by the American College of Cardiology, claiming that the inability of women to kill their children in the womb has increased incidences of cyanotic congenital heart disease (CCHD).

The study claims incidences of CCHD have increased since the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which Roe was overturned, specifically in states where preborn children are protected from abortion. States where abortion is permitted had stable CCHD rates.

Essentially, the “problem” is that preborn babies with CCHD are not being aborted — even though, as pointed out by medical organizations like Contemporary OB/GYN and Cleveland Clinic — the survival rate for CCHD is very high.

“If the trend toward an increasing number of CCHD births is true, then there will be a larger population of patients with complex congenital heart disease that will need [early and lifelong] health care,” Stephanie Tseng, MD, assistant professor and pediatric cardiologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and the study’s lead author, said. “The health care system, particularly in states with restrictive policies, will need to prepare for these patients, as we know that CCHD patients have higher health care utilization needs. This includes health care costs, resources and [an increased] need for health care workers. There will be non-financial physical and emotional strains on families, as well.”

The report could easily lead one to assume that the study authors are arguing that these children should be killed in the womb as soon as their largely non-lethal heart defects are discovered; otherwise, their families might experience financial or emotional distress, and health care costs could increase.

READ: Salon: Abortion should be legal in case more babies with disabilities are born

The study explained:

Comparing the birth rates of babies with CCHD over time, the researchers found that rates in states with more restrictive abortion policies diverged from those in states with more protective policies in the two years following the Dobbs decision. The median monthly overage comparing expected to observed differences was 9.6 per 100,000 births.

Another analysis quantified the degree of difference in the observed CCHD incidence over time versus the incidence that would be expected based on pre-Dobbs trends. The results showed a moderate degree of difference between observed and forecasted incidence, with most of the months post-Dobbs exceeding the average predicted incidence.

Based on the timing of when CCHD can be diagnosed prenatally and the new abortion laws, researchers said it may be plausible that the increase stems from babies being born to families who might have chosen to terminate the pregnancy if abortion were an option in their state.

Since Dobbs, abortion activists have tried to blame all manner of medical conditions on pro-life laws, ranging from increases in sepsis and infant mortality, to putting women at higher risk of cancer.

Yet abortion, the targeted, intentional killing of a preborn human being, is not medically necessary. It does not treat, prevent, or improve any conditions — it eliminates the human beings with those conditions — and women deserve better than a false dichotomy making them believe their only choices are their health or the lives of their children.