When the Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs decision in 2022, overturning Roe v. Wade, the pro-life movement knew it was a turning point. Now, we have the proof — and the numbers speak louder than any activist with a megaphone.

According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), over 22,000 babies have been born in just 14 pro-life states that enacted strong protections after Dobbs. That’s 22,180 lives saved in the first 18 months alone.

And here’s what makes that number even more powerful — JAMA isn’t exactly a conservative or pro-life outlet. This is a mainstream, left-leaning medical journal. The fact that they published these findings is a huge win, because they didn’t set out to make pro-lifers look good. They just couldn’t argue with the data.

Michael New, a pro-life researcher and associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, broke down the study’s significance during an interview on Washington Watch. He pointed out that the research spans 12 years of birth records, from 2012 to 2023. That’s not cherry-picked data — that’s a full picture of what’s really happening.

New also emphasized something critical: counting abortions after Dobbs is tricky. Women travel out of state, order abortion pills online, and some even get abortion drugs from overseas. Tracking all of that is nearly impossible. But babies? Babies are easy to count. When a child is born, there’s a birth certificate. It’s official. And in states that enacted pro-life protections, the birth numbers jumped.

That’s real, measurable evidence that pro-life laws save lives — thousands of them.

Of course, the same media and abortion industry that screamed about “The Handmaid’s Tale” after Dobbs immediately tried to spin the study. They pointed to an alleged 6% rise in infant mortality and blamed pro-life laws. But New wasn’t buying it — and neither should we.

He explained that when you zoom out and look at longer-term trends, the numbers actually show a decline in infant mortality after Dobbs. The JAMA study conveniently cut off the data early — a classic case of manipulating the timeline to fit a narrative.

In reality, since Dobbs, maternal and infant mortality rates have gone down nationwide. That’s the opposite of what the fearmongers predicted. Countries like Poland, where pro-life laws are some of the strongest in Europe, consistently report some of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world. In other words, protecting babies and protecting mothers go hand in hand.

New also called out a lie that keeps getting recycled — that abortion access somehow equals better public health. The data doesn’t back that up. What pro-life laws do is value both mother and child. Even in tough situations — like babies born with congenital conditions — pro-life laws ensure those children aren’t treated like disposable medical waste. Every life matters, and every life has dignity, whether it lasts 80 years or just a few hours.

And the evidence keeps piling up. This JAMA study isn’t a one-off. Research after Texas passed its Heartbeat Act showed over 1,000 babies were saved every single month. Another study found that in 2023 alone, pro-life laws led to 32,000 more babies being born nationwide.

Mary Szoch of the Family Research Council summed it up best: those 22,000 babies are a gift — not just to their families, but to America. Each one of them has a future, a purpose, and the potential to change the world. That’s 22,000 new reasons to be thankful — and to keep fighting for life.