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

What is the ratio between pregnancy-related and abortion-related mortality?This cross-sectional study using national data on annual pregnancy-related and abortion-related deaths, the annual number of abortions (3 662 580 abortions), and the annual number of births (14 902 571 births) between 2018 and 2021 found that the ratio between pregnancy- and abortion-related mortality in the study period ranged from 44.3 to 69.6, at least 3 times higher than the ratio of 14.7 calculated using data from 1998 to 2005.These findings suggest that by taking away the option to end a pregnancy, abortion bans force pregnant people to take on the substantially increased health risks associated with continued pregnancy.

Corresponding Author: Maria W. Steenland, SD, Department of Family Science, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, 4200 Valley Dr, Ste 1142, College Park, MD (msteenla@umd.edu).

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