16 state attorneys general sue Trump administration over NIH grant terminations

(WASHINGTON) — New research shows the far-reaching effects of the abortion bans that have proliferated the United States since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Three new studies have provided some of the first nationwide data on the effects of those bans in the states where they are currently active — revealing more births but also a rise in infant deaths.

The impact of those bans have even spread to states where abortion is still legal, the studies showed.

In the first study, Johns Hopkins researchers found that birth rates rose 1.7% in states with abortion bans. It showed that the bans primarily affect racial minorities, younger individuals and those with lower income or education, especially in the South.

“Those experiencing the greatest structural disadvantages and in the states amongst the worst in maternal and child health outcomes experience the greatest impact of these abortion bans on the number of live births,” Suzanne Bell, PhD, MPH, the paper’s lead author and an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News.

“Many of these occurred in states with among the weakest social services and worst outcomes, potentially deepening existing disparities and placing additional burdens on already strained resources,” she said.

At the same time, infant deaths rose in states with abortion bans, according to another Johns Hopkins study. Analyzing birth and death records from 2012 to 2023, Bell’s team noted 478 more infant deaths than expected in 14 states with the bans. The highest increases were seen in Black infants (about an 11% higher death rate), infants in Southern states and infants born with severe medical conditions.

“When you look at Texas’ contribution to the overall findings, we see that Texas is responsible for 73% of the additional births and 80% of the excess infant deaths,” Bell said.

But states without bans have also felt the effects.

Abortion also rose in Colorado, a state that maintained access to abortion with no gestational limits, according to a research letter recently published in JAMA Network Open.

Colorado State University researchers found that abortions for out-of-state residents in Colorado rose from 13% in 2020 to 30% in 2023. Abortions among Colorado residents also peaked six months after Texas’ abortion ban, with an 11% increase in first-trimester abortions and an 83% increase in second-trimester abortions compared to before the ban.

The surge in demand led to delays, possibly raising costs, emotional toll and procedure complexity, the authors said. However, second-trimester abortions have since stabilized, possibly due to expanded telehealth, self-managed abortions and access in other states, they added.

Currently, abortion is illegal in 12 states, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and 29 states have some sort of abortion limitation based on gestational age. Nine states have no restriction on abortion.

“The literature we have demonstrates that not being able to obtain an abortion has negative physical, mental and economic implications for birthing persons, their children and their families — and undermines achieving health equity,” Bell said. “These bans are deepening or worsening some of these existing population health disparities that exist.”

Jessica Yang, DO, is a family medicine resident at Main Line Health Bryn Mawr Hospital and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(NEW YORK) — As measles cases continue to spread across the United States, many Americans may be asking themselves if they need a measles vaccine booster to enhance protection.

An outbreak in western Texas has grown to 279 cases, mostly among those who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. Meanwhile, an outbreak in nearby New Mexico has also increased, reaching 38 cases as of Wednesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends that people receive two vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective, the CDC says.

Most vaccinated adults don’t need another vaccine dose, said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He also said it’s important to call another shot of the MMR vaccine “a dose” as opposed to a “booster.”

He explained that the measles vaccine used to be a single-dose vaccine before a second dose was recommended in the late 1980s.

“In the late ’80s, there were sort of big outbreaks of measles,” Offit told ABC News. “But if you looked at the epidemiology of those outbreaks, it was in people who never got a vaccine.”

He went on, “So it wasn’t that the immunity faded, that the vaccine wasn’t good enough. It’s an excellent vaccine as a single-dose vaccine. The problem was people didn’t get it. So, the second dose recommendation really was to give children a second chance to get a first dose.”

Depending on the year you were born

If someone was born before 1957, they are presumed to have life-long immunity against measles, Offit said.

Before the MMR vaccine was available, nearly everyone was infected with measles, mumps and rubella during childhood, according to the CDC.

Those with a confirmed laboratory diagnosis of measles are protected from the virus, the agency adds.

In 1963, the first measles vaccine became available, followed by an improved vaccine in 1968, said Dr. Gregory Poland, a vaccinologist and co-director of The Atria Research Institute — which focuses on disease prevention.

A very small number of people, representing less than 5% of Americans, may have received the inactivated measles vaccine from 1963 through 1967 during childhood, which may not have offered sufficient protection against the virus. These people would be eligible for re-vaccination with one or two doses, the CDC says.

“So, the first measles vaccine licensed in the U.S. was in 1963 and it was an inactivated vaccine,” he told ABC News. “That inactivated vaccine had two consequences to it. One, it did not produce protective immunity and, number two, it led to — when people did get exposed and infected — it led to atypical measles, and that can be very severe.”

Poland said, at the time, there was also a live attenuated measles vaccine, similar to what is used today “but it was not very attenuated or weakened, and so it caused a lot of side effects.”

He explained that to decrease side effects, physicians would give a patient a vaccine and then a shot of immunoglobulin, or antibodies. While this decreased side effects, it also tended to kill the vaccine virus, not giving people adequate immunity.

For those who were vaccinated with the single-dose vaccine similar to the one used today — or received the MMR vaccine — Offit said another dose is likely not needed.

In 1989, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommended children receive a second MMR dose.

Offit and Poland said anyone who has received two doses of the MMR vaccine does not need to receive another dose.

If someone is unsure if they are immune to measles, they should first try to find their vaccination records. If they cannot find written documentation, there is generally no harm in receiving another dose of the MMR vaccine, according to the CDC. A health care provider can also test blood to determine whether someone is immune, but this is generally not recommended.

On its website, the CDC says older children, adolescents and adults need one or two doses of MMR vaccine if they don’t have evidence of immunity.

Infants in a high-risk area

In the face of the growing measles outbreak, the CDC issued an alert on March 7 saying parents in the outbreak area should consider getting their children an early third dose of the MMR vaccine.

Texas health officials have also recommended early vaccination for infants living in outbreak areas.

This would result in three doses overall: an early dose between age 6 months and 11 months and then the two regularly scheduled doses.

Poland says it’s important to note that this dose is only for infants living in high-risk areas or going to visit high-risk areas and not recommended for most children.

“Generally, the reason we don’t give [the vaccine] at an early age is that, if the mother was immunized or had disease, the antibodies that she has are passed through the placenta to the baby — those last around 12 months,” he said. “If you give the vaccine prior to that, then some amount of that live virus vaccine will be killed by the mother’s antibodies circulating in the baby, and so it’s not long-lasting, high-titer immunity.”

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(LANSING, Mich.) — A Michigan resident has died of rabies after apparently undergoing an organ transplant, health officials said.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) told ABC News that the patient underwent an organ transplant at an Ohio hospital in December 2024.

The resident died in January 2025 and “a public health investigation determined they contracted rabies through the transplanted organ,” MDHHS said.

The organ donor was not a Michigan or Ohio resident, according to MDHHS. The department said it is not providing any additional information about the resident or the donor.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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