Abortion Bans Might Endanger Pregnancies Achieved Through Fertility Treatment

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 14, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Abortion restrictions could be endangering some pregnancies conceived through fertility treatment, a new study says.

States with laws that target abortion providers have worse health outcomes for women using fertility treatment compared with states that don’t have such laws, researchers reported Jan. 9 in JAMA Health Forum.

“People with highly planned and desired pregnancies may not be who we typically think of when we discuss the impacts of abortion restrictions, but their health and safety are being considerably impacted,” lead researcher Dr. Molly Kornfield said in a news release. She’s an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

“These data prove what we already know: Abortion restrictions don’t exist in a vacuum — they affect everyone who needs reproductive health care,” Kornfield added.

For the new study, researchers tracked more than 400,000 births conceived through fertility treatments between 2012 and 2021.

Results showed a higher risk of complications like blood transfusion, ICU admission, unplanned hysterectomy and uterine rupture among states with restrictive abortion laws.

Rates of such complications increased following the enactment of abortion bans or restrictions in these states, researchers found.

Abortion bans might have had the unintended consequence of limiting women’s access to any sort of reproductive health care, including support for pregnancies achieved through fertility treatments, researchers speculated.

The impact of these laws have changed the way health professionals counsel patients and deliver care, researchers said.

For example, doctors may advise patients to be more cautious about travel during pregnancy, because they can’t count on the same level of care in all states, researchers said.

“We’re lucky to be living and practicing in Oregon, where we’re able to offer evidence-based, full-scope reproductive health care, but sadly this isn’t the case in so many areas,” said lead researcher Dr. Samuel Melville, a resident physician in OHSU’s department of obstetrics and gynecology.

“If we want to truly support the health of children and families, we need to acknowledge that safe reproduction includes abortion care,” Melville said in a news release.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on pregnancy complications.

SOURCE: Oregon Health & Science University, news release, Jan. 9, 2026