As November nears, abortion activists are working overtime to spread lies and propaganda about pro-life laws.
Earlier this month, for example, the Harris-Walz campaign claimed that a woman who died due to complications from a legal abortion in Georgia had actually died because of pro-life laws – the precise opposite of the truth. The woman in question had taken abortion pills to kill her twins at 9 weeks, the abortion failed, and she became septic as a result – a known side effect of the abortion pill.
Now, a vague story by NBC titled “A dramatic rise in pregnant women dying in Texas after abortion ban” is going viral. According to NBC: “Exclusive analysis finds the rate of maternal deaths in Texas increased 56% from 2019 to 2022, compared with just 11% nationwide during the same time period.”
Considering the fact that pro-life countries like Malta have the best maternal health outcomes in the world, this report seems suspect. I reached out to Dr. Michael New of the Charlotte Lozier Institute and asked him how he reads this new (very incomplete) data.
What is your view of the Gender Equity Policy Institute, the institute claiming that pro-life laws in Texas haves resulted in a rise in maternal death?
Dr. Michael New: The Gender Equity Policy Institute is a California based non-profit that has no previous background either collecting or analyzing maternal mortality data from Texas or elsewhere. There are other organizations with experience in collecting and analyzing public health data. However, the Gender Equity Policy Institute is not one of them. That is one of the reasons why I am skeptical of their claim that maternal mortality in Texas increased by 56 percent between 2019 and 2022.
Is there precedent for these sorts of claims?
New: Yes, in 2016 the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology released a study which claimed the Texas maternal-mortality rate doubled between 2010 and 2012. The authors of the study did express skepticism about their findings – stating such an increase was unlikely outside of war, a natural disaster, or a severe economic disruption.
However, supporters of legal abortion and their allies in the mainstream media pounced. They quickly blamed state funding cuts to Planned Parenthood. This was despite the fact that the purported maternal mortality increase occurred before the funding cuts actually took effect.
More importantly, a state task force that reviewed individual death certificates found that many of the pregnancy related deaths were miscounted. Overall, the Texas maternal mortality rate in 2012 was more than 61 percent lower than what was reported in the Obstetrics and Gynecology article. Sadly, these updated figures received only a fraction of the mainstream media coverage the original Obstetrics and Gynecology article received.
What is your view of these claims? Do jurisdictions with pro-life laws usually have worse maternal health outcomes?
New: I am skeptical of these claims for several reasons. First, the Gender Equity Policy Institute has not publicly released a report and has released very little data. It simply leaked its findings to NBC News, a sympathetic media outlet. That is a red flag.
Second, taking their claims at face value, the Texas maternal mortality rate actually declined by 35 percent between 2021 and 2022. In 2022, the Texas Heartbeat Act was in effect all year. During the summer of 2022, legislation took effect in Texas that protected all pre-born children. In short, during the year with the strongest pro-life protections in place, the Texas maternal mortality rate fell by 254 percent.
Third, there is a good body of research which shows that countries with strong pro-life laws also have low maternal mortality rates. Poland, which has among the strongest pro-life laws in Europe, also has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates. Before Ireland legalized abortion in 2018, their maternal mortality rate was lower than England, Scotland, and Wales. Maternal mortality rates continued to fall in Chile after they enacted strong protections of pre-born children in 1989.
In your view, are abortion activists using data deceitfully to sway public opinion?
New: Abortion activists are certainly using data deceitfully to drive public opinion. Abortion activists often claim pro-life laws are ineffective at protecting preborn children; however, multiple studies show the incidence of abortion is sensitive to its legal status.
Furthermore, abortion activists claim that chemical abortions are safe. On the contrary, good research using comprehensive healthcare databases shows that chemical abortions have four times the complication rate as surgical abortions. Finally, abortion activists often claim that pro-life laws lead to poor public health outcomes. However, these claims often fail to withstand scrutiny.
JVM: How should pro-lifers respond to these headlines?
New: Pro-lifers need to be skeptical of any study which claims that pro-life laws cause poor public health outcomes. There is plenty of data which shows that countries can have strong pro-life protections in place and positive public health trends.
