Fatal Newborn Abandonments Skyrocket In Texas Following Abortion Ban

Since the repeal of Roe v. Wade and the establishment of a near-total abortion ban in Texas, at least 18 newborns were abandoned by their mothers after giving birth, often in trash receptacles and almost always fatally.

Texas has a famously broken natal healthcare system. The Commonwealth Fund, a national women’s health nonprofit, ranked the state the second-worst place to give birth in 2024. The reasons include a failure to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and a resulting high rate of uninsured pregnant people, a crumbling rural healthcare infrastructure, a lack of reproductive health professionals after large-scale exodus following the state’s abortion ban, and Governor Greg Abbott’s recent crackdown on undocumented immigrants using hospital services.

The latter is in the spotlight thanks to a recent newborn abandonment in Houston over the summer. First responders were able to rescue an abandoned baby from a dumpster. His mother, a Guatemalan migrant whose actions were caught on parking lot CCTV cameras, was arrested a few days later. The mother is a teenager named Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam, who was working in a food truck by herself when she left to give birth. Following her arrest, Cux-Ajtzalam said that she didn’t go to a clinic because she was afraid of being deported. She claims a relative raped her, leading to the pregnancy.

Before the fall of Roe, Houston had seven newborn abandonments a year. That number has nearly doubled following the loss of reproductive choice and the hardline crackdown on undocumented immigrants seeking medical attention.

Nor is abandonment the only danger on the rise in the state. Johns Hopkins University observed that infant deaths were up by 12 percent across the board in Texas following the abortion ban. Neglect, violence, and poor post-natal care all contribute to the increasing number of newborn and infant deaths.

 Texas was the first state to establish “Baby Moses” laws (also known as safe haven laws) in 1999. The laws make it legal to surrender a baby that is less than 60 days old at a fire station or other emergency services location. This is supposed to deter people from abandoning children in dumpsters.

In practice, these law are a mixed success at best. The National Safe Haven Alliance estimates 4,000 children have been saved through the practice, but there is no systemic, scientific review of the data to back that up. Nor do they address the hardships surrounding pregnancy for people with limited resources. As Jamie Marsella of the peer-reviewed medical history blog Nursing Clio put it in 2023:

“These laws do nothing to prevent unwanted pregnancies, provide support or resources for victims of domestic violence or assault, or ensure access to contraception or abortion services for those who do not wish to be pregnant. They don’t offer medical care for pregnant people who cannot afford the costs of pregnancy or childrearing, nor do they offer resources for pregnant people who wish to parent their children but fear they can’t due to lack of resources, safety, or employment. Further, they don’t account for the emotional and psychological toll of infant surrender and adoption on either the parent or the child. Even though these laws putatively prioritize the child, they do nothing to ensure that the children involved will find themselves in a safe and caring environment as they grow.”

Clearly, Cux-Ajtzalam and others like her felt like they had no options. Safe Haven laws are not enough.