By Arielle Kane
Returning the determination of abortion legality to the states will, without question, harm economically disadvantaged women and further compound health disparities.
Data show that preventable health disparities exist because of economic, environmental or social disadvantages that adversely affect a specific population. Black women, for example, are more likely than white women to die in childbirth because of a whole host of economic and medical disparities, but that gap is smaller in states that have expanded Medicaid.
Outlawing abortion in deeply red states will further perpetuate a two-tiered system in which women have different rights and health benefits depending on where they live. In blue states, low-income women will have access to health care through Medicaid, including abortion if they need it. And in some red states, low-income women won’t have access to health coverage or abortion.
This will harm everyone — leading to poorer health outcomes and more poverty. States that are likely to outlaw abortion are the same states that are less likely to give families the health care, educational opportunities, or financial support that could help lift people out of poverty. As a result, children born into families that would have preferred an abortion will be more likely to live in poverty than equivalent families in blue states.
People with means will be able to travel to blue states to get an abortion if necessary. But the women without resources will be left to have unwanted children or children with chromosomal abnormalities and be forced to put their own health at risk in some cases.
