Studies dispute pro-abortion claims about maternal health and 'OB-GYN exodus'

CNA Newsroom, Jul 10, 2025 / 17:10 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

Studies debunk pro-abortion maternal health, ‘OB-GYNs exodus’ claims

Recently released peer-reviewed research is disputing what pro-life researchers call “fear-mongering narratives” about maternal health and OB-GYNs. 

A peer reviewed study published last week found that the maternal morbidity — health problems following pregnancy or giving birth — remained unchanged in states with pro-life protections for unborn children. 

But in pro-abortion states, maternal morbidity rates increased significantly, according to the study published by BMC Public Health. Additionally, the infant mortality rate remained the same in states with pro-life protections.

The so-called “OB-GYN exodus,” the claim that OB-GYNs were fleeing pro-life states, is also untrue, according to a recent JAMA article. The article found that OB-GYNs aren’t fleeing states with pro-life protections. 

About 94% of OB-GYNs stayed in the same practice location when their state implemented pro-life protections, which is nearly the same as the 95.8% in pro-abortion states, according to a Charlotte Lozier Institute spokeswoman. 

Ingrid Skop, the vice president and director of medical affairs at the Lozier Institute and a board-certified OB-GYN, said that following the Dobbs decision, abortion activists “tried to convince the public that legal protections for the unborn would force OB-GYNs to leave pro-life states, and that pregnancy-related complications for women and infant mortality would increase.”

But this recent data, Skop said, “shows the fearmongering didn’t match the facts.” 

“It turns out that providing better quality, life-affirming medical care protects the lives of both mothers and babies,” Skop told CNA. “The fearmongering narratives alleging otherwise have been disproven.” 

Nearly three in 10 unborn babies aborted in England and Wales 

Nearly three in 10 pregnancies ended in abortion in 2022 in England and Wales, according to government statistics.

Abortions are at the highest levels since recording began in England and Wales, according to recent data from the Office for National Statistics. 

Abortions are up from about two in 10 a decade earlier. The percent of pregnancies ending in abortions went from 20.8% in 2012 to 26.5% in 2021, and has now reached 29.7% in 2022.

The numbers came out soon after the British Parliament voted to decriminalize illegal abortions in June. 

Abortions drop in South Carolina by 63%

Two years after South Carolina’s six-week heartbeat protection law went into effect in May of 2023, the state health department is reporting that legal abortions have plummeted.

From 2023 to 2024, the state saw a 63% drop in abortion, per the annual abortion report. This was the first full year that the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act was in effect. In 2023, there were a reported 8,187 abortions, but the number dropped by more than half a year later, to 3,025 abortions statewide in 2024.

Lisa Van Riper, the president of South Carolina Citizens for Life, said the state pro-life organization “rejoices in these numbers,” citing the “the preservation of the precious little lives,” according to a statement by the National Right to Life.

The National Right to Life group also condemned the disproportionate amount of abortions of black babies. While 26% of South Carolina is black, 41% of aborted babies were black children, the group noted.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/265295/studies-dispute-pro-abortion-claims-about-maternal-health-and-ob-gyn-exodus