# Suicide deaths among reproductive-aged women in the US post-Dobbs: a national time-series analysis

## TL;DR

This study found a rise in suicides among reproductive-aged women in the US after the Dobbs decision, suggesting a negative impact on their mental health.

## Contribution

The study provides new evidence linking the Dobbs decision to increased suicide rates among young women in the US.

## Key findings

- Suicide rates among 15–49-year-old women increased by an average of 52.5 per month post-Dobbs.
- Younger women (15–24 years) showed a pronounced increase with 19.6 additional suicides per month.
- No significant increase was observed in 25–49-year-old women post-Dobbs.

## Abstract

The United States Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in June 2022 may have worsened mental health among reproductive-aged women nationally. We examined whether the Dobbs decision preceded an increase in suicides among reproductive-aged women using national, monthly data, from January 2018-December 2023.

We retrieved national monthly suicide counts from January 2018 to December 2023 for women and men 15–49 years of age (overall and stratified by two age groups- 15–24 years, 25–49 years) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research Multiple Cause of Death database. We used time series analyses to examine whether residuals of nationally aggregated counts of monthly suicides among women 15–49, 15–24- and 25–49-years of age (outcomes) exhibited higher-than-expected values following the Dobbs decision, controlling for autocorrelation and concomitant monthly series of suicides among men.

We observed higher-than-expected residuals of suicides in July and September 2022 among 15–49-year-old women, and in September, October, December 2022 and March 2023 among 15–24-year-old women. No residual outliers were observed among 25–49-year-old women post-Dobbs. Results from time-series analyses indicate an average of 52.5 additional suicides in outlier months among 15–49-year-old women post-Dobbs (95% confidence interval [CI]: 14.85, 90.15). The increase appeared pronounced among younger age (15–24 years) women (coefficient = 19.6, 95% CI: 11.17, 28.03). Results suggest 104 additional suicides among 15–49-year-old women, and 78 excess suicides among 15–24-year-old women, nationally, post-Dobbs.

Findings highlight the adverse impact of the Dobbs ruling on mental health among reproductive-aged women.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00127-025-02902-7.