The study was done by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and many of the people that have reportedly moved are single.
The research got the attention of mainstream news outlets such as Financial Times and CBS News. However, pro-life activist Michael J. New thinks there are a couple flaws with this study.
"First off, it gets all of its data from change of address cards filed with the U.S. Postal Service, but not everybody who moves files a change of address card," says New, an assistant professor of practice at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America and a senior associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. "Secondly, the data is somewhat limited, as it only considers data up until the second quarter of 2023, so we have a lot of post-Dobbs data that is just not considered in this story."
New adds that Census data provides a totally different narrative than what this change of address data shows.
"If you look at Census data, there's roughly 16 states right now that have strong pro-life laws in effect, and according to the Census Bureau, 13 of these states saw population increases," says New. "One didn't change and only two of these states, Mississippi and Louisiana, saw a population decrease, so Census data provides a much different narrative."
Census data also shows that many states with very permissive abortion policies saw population numbers decrease in 2024. The list includes California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Illinois.
"The other side is always trying to find some evidence that pro-life laws have bad policy outcomes, whether it's they hurt the economy, or they hurt public health, but I don't really think there's much there," says New. "Since Dobbs, we've seen actually a decline in infant mortality rates."
Colleges looking strong too
Even colleges in states that have strong pro-life laws do not appear to be impacted.
"When you look at enrollment data at places like University of Oklahoma, University of Tennessee, Rice, which is in Texas, enrollments are very good, even record-breaking at some of these colleges."
