On Monday, a study published in the JAMA Pediatrics journal revealed that in 2022, the year after Texas’s Heartbeat Act went into effect, the infant mortality rate went up by nearly 13%, versus an almost 2% increase in the rest of the US. Deaths as a result of birth defects increased in the state by 22.9%—compared to a nationwide decrease of about 3%—presumably because the Texas law bans abortion after six weeks, which is well before tests are done to detect fetal abnormalities.
” Amy O’Donnell, a spokesperson for Texas Alliance for Life, told USA Today, “We don’t apologize for the fact that we don’t support discrimination against children facing disabilities or fatal diagnoses in or out of the womb. And that’s the line that we just believe should not be crossed.” She did not comment on the fact that the Texas law inflicts unimaginable trauma on people forced to give birth to children they know won’t survive, only to watch them die.