Some 2,200 infants died in Texas in 2022 – an increase of 227 deaths, or 11.5%, over the previous year. Infant deaths caused by severe genetic and birth defects rose by 21.6%. Between 2014 and 2021, infant deaths had fallen by nearly 15%. In 2021, Texas banned abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy. When the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion rights the following summer, a trigger law in the state banned all abortions other than those intended to protect the life of the mother. The issue of forcing women to carry out terminal and often high-risk pregnancies is at the core of a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The plaintiffs are asking the courts to clarify when doctors can make medical exceptions to the state’s ban. Lawyers representing the state say the plaintiffs’ doctors were to blame, saying they misinterpreted the law and failed to provide adequate care for such high- risk pregnancies. “It escalated to finding out my daughter was going to die,” one woman testified. “I had to watch my daughter go from being pink to red to purple. From being warm to cold,” said another. “This was just supposed to be a day,” said one woman. “You have no options. You will have to go through with your pregnancy,” her doctor told her, she claimed in the lawsuit. “We all knew the infant mortality rate would go up, because many of these terminations were for pregnancies that don’t turn into healthy normal kids,” said Dr. Erika Werner, the chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Tufts Medical Center. The state saw nearly 10,000 more births than expected prior to its abortion ban – an estimated 3% increase. This law gave parents more time to learn crucial information about a fetus’s brain formation and organ development, which doctors begin to test for at around 15 weeks. Many women around the country who face the prospect choose abortion, two obstetrician-gynecologists told . But Samantha Casiano lived in Texas, where state legislators had recently banned most abortions after six weeks. “If I was able to get the abortion with that time, I think it would have meant a lot to me because my daughter wouldn’t have suffered,” Casiano told after testifying Wednesday. After gasping for air for four hours, the baby died, Casiano said during her testimony on Wednesday. “All she could do was fight to try to get air. I just kept telling myself and my baby that I’m so sorry that this had to happen to you,” said Casiano, who gave birth to a stillborn baby in March of this year. She and 14 others – including two doctors – are plaintiffs in the suit filed against Texas. They allege the abortion ban has denied them or their patients access to necessary obstetrical care. They are hoping to learn about babies but instead learn their lives can make their lives or can make a difference to the lives of other women and children in need of care.
Nearly two years after Texas’ six-week abortion ban, more infants are dying. More than 1,000 babies have died since the ban was enacted.
