Multiple sources warned in the lead up to the 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade that abortion bans (including those expected if Roe was overturned) would lead to an increase maternal mortality rates.
However, the findings in a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing a decrease in maternal mortality rates in the U. S. in 2023 refute those pre-Dobbs predictions.
The CDC uses the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of maternal death to determine the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
According to the WHO, a maternal death is:
“the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.”
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“In 2023, 669 women died of maternal causes in the United States, compared with 817 in 2022,” the CDC reported. “The maternal mortality rate for 2023 decreased to 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with a rate of 22.3 in 2022.”
Following the CDC’s release of the report in February 2025, Ingrid Skop, M.D., FACOG, vice president and director of Medical Affairs for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, posted on X, noting the post-Dobbs decrease, “U.S. maternal mortality fell since pro-life laws went into effect.”
“The trend is clear,” Skop said. “As many in the pro-life movement predicted, maternal mortality didn’t worsen due to pro-life laws.”
Christa Brown, senior director of Medical Impact for Heartbeat International, concurred.
“This report confirms that heartbeat laws and the Dobbs Decision have made America a safer place for moms and babies alike,” Brown said.
Heartbeat is the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and the world.
“Legacy media has perpetuated the myth that laws that protect preborn life create dangerous medical scenarios for women,” said Brown. “The claims are ludicrous, yet they repeat the lie that without abortion more women will die.”
“This CDC report validates that pro-life laws actually improve women’s healthcare, and do not increase maternal mortality,” Brown said.
Additionally, when comparing maternal mortality rates in regions with more restrictive abortion laws to those with less restrictive abortion laws, prior reports found “pro-life restrictions on abortion did not result in higher maternal mortality rates.”
After a 10-year study examining maternal mortality rates in different Mexican states, researchers noted their findings on abortion legislation and maternal mortality rates:
“Theoretically, in Mexican states exhibiting less permissive legislation, maternal mortality should have been higher because the practice of unsafe abortion should be more frequent. Paradoxically, over a 10-year period, those states almost univocally exhibited lower figures for MMR [maternal mortality rates].”
Maternal mortality rates have been used as a “strategy” by abortion proponents for “promoting abortion access,” Brooke Myrick, BSN, RN, Heartbeat International Healthcare Team manager, noted previously for Pregnancy Help News.
These methods have “an increasing possibility of gaining support regardless of the truth and medical factual evidence behind the reality of abortion today,” Myrick wrote.
While maternal mortality rates “decreased significantly” for White non-Hispanic and Hispanic women, the CDC’s 2023 findings acknowledge that racial differences in maternal mortality still exist.
“In 2023, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births and was significantly higher than rates for White (14.5), Hispanic (12.4), and Asian (10.7) women,” the CDC reported.
The maternal mortality rate for Black women in 2022 decreased to 49.5 deaths per 100,000 live births, significantly down from a rate of 69.9 in 2021. The 2023 increase to a rate of 50.3 is not a “statistically significant” increase compared to 2022 rates.
“The sad news brought out in this report is that disparities remain for Black women who have higher maternal mortality rates than White, Hispanic, or Asian women,” said Brown.
“The reality for Black women with 50 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 14 deaths for White women should prompt our healthcare system to uncover and address the causations and risks in this population,” Brown added.
“It’s important to remember that in every state in the U.S., medical intervention is available and legal to save the mother’s life in an emergency,” Brown said.
LifeNews Note: Sherri has worked in the pregnancy help field for over ten years, engaging with hundreds of women and men as they make life decisions about their preborn children. Her experiences also include writing, speaking at events, content creation, and impacting community awareness. Sherri is a follower of Christ, wife, and mother. This column originally appeared at Pregnancy Help News.
The post CDC Confirms Maternal Mortality Declining After States Banned Abortions appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Author: Sherri Pigue
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