Pregnancy- and Abortion-Related Mortality in the US, 2018-2021.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

The 2022 Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization and the subsequent legal restrictions to abortion have prompted national discussion about the importance of abortion access for maternal health. A commonly cited statistic in these debates, based on data from 1998 to 2005, is that the risk of death associated with childbirth is approximately 14 times higher than that of abortion.

Objective

To estimate the ratio of pregnancy-related to abortion-related mortality using updated data (2018-2021), capturing increased detection of maternal death and increased safety of abortion since the original estimate.

Design, setting, and participants

This cross-sectional study included all births (live and stillbirths) and pregnancy-related deaths

SUBMITTER: Steenland MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12824786 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature