Low birth weight less common in states with fewer reproductive rights restrictions
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Women in states with the least restrictive reproductive rights policies have a lower risk for low birth weight compared with women who live in the most restrictive states, according to findings from a retrospective, cross-sectional study.
Jessica D. Gipson, MPH, PhD, an associate professor of community health services at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues assessed records from more than 3.9 million births in 2016. They created an index that scored states on their reproductive rights based on six indicators mandatory parental consent for minors seeking an abortion; mandatory waiting periods for abortion services; restrictions on public fund for abortion; the percentage of women living in counties with abortion providers; expanded eligibility for Medicaid family planning services; and mandatory sex education in schools.
States received a score of 0 for every restrictive policy, and a score of 1 for not having a restrictive policy.
“Supportive reproductive rights policies protect the health of our mothers, our children and our communities,” Gipson told Healio.
According to the study, women living in states with the least restrictive policies had a 7% lower risk of having a child with a low birth rate (adjusted RR = 0.93, 95% CI, 0.88-0.99). There was not a significant difference in preterm birth risk between the least and most restrictive states (aRR = 0.97, 95% CI, 0.90-1.05).
According to the study, Black women living in states with the least restrictive reproduction rights had an 8% lower risk of low birth weight compared with Black women in the most restrictive states (aRR = 0.92, 95% CI, 0.86-0.99).
“Our country continues to grapple with and to address structural racism and its adverse effects on the health of people of color, including documented linkages between structural racism and infant mortality,” Gipson said. “Our study builds on this body of evidence by demonstrating the important influence of reproductive rights policies on maternal and child health.”