Post-Dobbs abortion restrictions: Effects on maternal and infant health and racial and ethnic disparities in the US
Abortion
Awarded 2024
Health and economic outcomes, post-Dobbs
Nansi Boghossian, PhD, MPH
University of South Carolina
$74,895

In June 2022, the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned nearly 50 years of federal abortion protections established by Roe v Wade, prompting many states to impose strict abortion restrictions, including total bans. Research on how these restrictions affect maternal and infant outcomes is limited. This project aims to: 1) assess the impact of abortion restrictions on maternal mortality, 2) examine how these restrictions affect fertility rates, birth outcomes (such as preterm birth, low birth weight, birth defects, and stillbirth), and infant mortality, and 3) analyze racial and ethnic disparities in these effects. We will use restricted data from the National Center for Health Statistics, including national mortality data, linked birth and death certificates, and fetal death records, covering the period from 2016 to 2023. Intervention groups will be defined by the type of ban, such as total bans or gestational age bans. An interrupted time series approach with a synthetic control design will be employed to enhance causal inference, creating a synthetic counterfactual for each state that enacted abortion policies by weighting states without such bans. Our transdisciplinary team, with expertise in perinatal epidemiology, biostatistics, reproductive justice, health services research, and health policy, will conduct the research and disseminate the findings through various forums. Results from this study will provide rigorous evidence on this impact of abortion bans on critical health outcomes that affect individuals, communities, and society.