There were only 3 segments on cable news and 3 articles in five of the top national newspapers about Texas' abortion restriction and subsequent infant mortality spike in the week after the Journal of the American Medical Association study was published on June 24, 2024. Morning, evening, and weekend broadcast news programs did not cover the study at all during the review period.

According to the JAMA Pediatrics study, following the enactment of Texas’ Heartbeat Act in September 2021, infant mortality rates in Texas surged by nearly 13%, compared to a 1.8% increase nationwide over the same period. The study also noted that while the number of infant deaths attributable to congenital anomalies decreased by about 3% nationwide, Texas saw a nearly 23% increase. 

Media Matters has repeatedly found right-wing media seemingly burying and misreporting stories about the effects of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. Now, in light of damning new data from JAMA Pediatrics, mainstream media are also dropping the ball. 

From when JAMA Pediatrics published its study on June 24 through June 30, 2024, ABC’s Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and This Week; CBS’ Mornings, Evening News, and Face the Nation; and NBC’s Today, Nightly News, and Meet the Press each failed to mention the study or its findings.

Over the same period, not all of the top national newspapers covered the study, with only 1 article from The New York Times, 1 article from The Washington Post, and 1 article from USA Today. The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal each ignored the study and its findings. We defined articles as instances when the study or its findings were mentioned in the headline or lead paragraphs in the A section of the paper, as determined by Factiva.

Similarly, the cable networks CNN and Fox News both ignored the study and its findings. Only MSNBC mentioned it, for a total of about 10 minutes across 3 interviews and several mentions.

Since Texas' severely restrictive abortion law was enacted, national news media have reported on stories about people with pregnancy complications, like Kate Cox, being forced to either leave the state or wait for their conditions to become life-threatening in order to receive in-state medical care. Some pregnant people, though, like Miranda Michel, have been forced to carry nonviable pregnancies to full term, only for their newborns to die, as predicted, post-birth.

In one of the few segments on the study, on the June 30 edition of MSNBC's Velshi, Georgetown constitutional law professor Michelle Goodwin explained: 

“Many of the places that provided abortions here were places that provided prenatal care, postnatal care, contraceptive access, all of those things, and when those clinics closed, that meant that fundamental health care for women in those regions was then suddenly gone. And we're a country that does not have universal health care, which means that for poor women, working-class women, they really rely on those health care clinics. Keep in mind that in a state that has now shuttered abortion clinics, has imposed these abortion bans, they have not set up new hospitals. They have not set up new clinics. They have left these women to suffer without any access to more health care.”

The GOP often touts itself as the party of life, yet the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests the Texas Republican Party's Heartbeat Bill led to increases in infant mortality. And researchers are warning that the Texas data may foreshadow outcomes in other states post-Dobbs. Despite this, mainstream media largely failed to pay attention to this alarming study. 

Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream video database for all original programming on CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC as well as all original episodes of ABC’s Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and This Week; CBS’ Mornings, Evening News, and Face the Nation; and NBC’s Today, Nightly News, and Meet the Press for any of the terms any of the terms “JAMA,” “AMA,” “American Medical Association,” “journal,” “study,” “report,” “Senate Bill 8,” “SB8,” “Texas,” “law,” “bill,” or “legislation” within close proximity to any of the terms “infant,” “newborn,” “baby,” “abortion,” “fetal,” or “birth” and within close proximity to any of the terms “death,” “rate,” “mortality,” “congenital,” or “anomaly” from June 24, 2024, when JAMA Pediatrics published its study, through June 30, 2024.

We also searched print articles in the Factiva database from the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post for any of the terms “JAMA,” “AMA,” “American Medical Association,” “journal,” “study,” “report,” “Senate Bill 8,” “SB8,” “Texas,” “law,” “bill,” or “legislation” within close proximity to any of the terms “infant,” “newborn,” “baby,” “abortion,” “fetal,” or “birth” and within close proximity to any of the terms “death,” “rate,” “mortality,” “congenital,” or “anomaly” from June 24, 2024, through June 30, 2024.

We timed segments, which we defined as instances when the June 24, 2024, JAMA Pediatrics study or its findings of the link between Texas Senate Bill 8 and an increase in infant and newborn mortality were the stated topic of discussion or when we found significant discussion of the study or its findings. We defined significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a multitopic segment discussed the study or its findings with one another.

We also timed mentions, which we defined as instances when a single speaker in a segment on another topic mentioned the study or its findings without another speaker engaging with the comment, and teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promoted a segment about the study or its findings scheduled to air later in the broadcast.

We rounded all times to the nearest minute.

Finally, we included articles, which we defined as instances when the study or its findings were mentioned in the headline or lead paragraphs in the A section of the paper, as determined by Factiva. We included editorial and op-eds but not letters to the editor.