Texas's Abortion Ban Results in 10K More Births, Study Shows

A study conducted by Johns Hopkins University found that there were approximately 9,800 additional births in Texas between April and December 2022 following the implementation of SB8, a six-week abortion ban. While the study does not attribute all the additional births to the ban, it suggests that many pregnant individuals in Texas were unable to access abortion services and were forced to continue unwanted or unsafe pregnancies. The research highlights the negative consequences of being denied an abortion, including impacts on physical and mental health, increased likelihood of living in poverty, and struggles faced by families. The study also raises concerns about the potential larger impacts of recent abortion bans, such as the one in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, on the number of live births in states that have restricted or banned abortion.