By Sharanya Sekaram, Sri Lanka, June 5, 2019, Women’s Media Center

Watching the incredibly restrictive abortion bans unfold from Sri Lanka has been eye-opening. The United States’ bans propose even more intense punishment than those that currently exist in Sri Lanka. For example, Alabama’s bill would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison. In Sri Lanka, the punishment for all abortion procedures that are “not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman,” is up to seven years and/or a fine.

Undoubtedly, American women will still attempt to access abortion even if Roe v. Wade is ultimately overturned. This reality begs the question: If women are going to seek an abortion no matter the legal status of abortion in the country they live in, who will illegal abortion hurt the most? The answer can be found in examining how significant a role class plays in a woman’s decision to have an abortion.

Class impacts every decision a woman makes about her body from the second she finds out she’s pregnant. Imagine that you are a 35-year old mother of two living as one of the urban poor in low-cost housing. You are struggling to make ends meet. It’s very likely that you work in the in the informal economy, and therefore lack access to paid maternity leave and/or flexible work hours. Having another child would mean that you would potentially need to stay home for months without an income to care for a newborn. This is not an option for many women whose families cannot survive without their additional income and for whom childcare is not an affordable option. Of course, this decision may also be further complicated later in a woman’s pregnancy if it is found the child will be born with significant fetal abnormalities or disabilities and therefor require sustained full-time care which the families cannot afford to give.

This difficulty is compounded in if abortion is illegal. Women with a substantial income can afford to travel to places where abortion is legal and thus infinitely safer. Some can even find providers in their own communities who will perform the procedure for a substantial fee. Impoverished women don’t have these options, and so are forced to seek abortions outside clinics, which may lead to complications, or to resort to dangerous home remedies that can include everything from papaya leaves to bicycle spokes.

Evidence shows that a woman’s socioeconomic success is intrinsically tied to their reproductive lives – even privileged women see their career trajectories tied to their child-bearing. Studies show that forcing women to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term quadruples their odds of living below the poverty line, and laws that restrict abortion access have proven to deteriorate economic outcomes for women. This is to say nothing of the negative impact on the health, opportunities, and emotional well-being of the children born into these situations.

Are we having the right conversation about abortion? Are we placing the realities of women and their children at the forefront of our conversations, or are concerns over a debatable and relatively abstract sense of morality more important than their lives?

Presented by the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH).

It is estimated that more than 4,000 women are denied wanted abortions due to facilities gestational limits every year. As more states pass gestational limit laws, thousands more will be affected.

The Turnaway Study was the first study to rigorously examine the effects of receiving versus being denied a wanted abortion on women and their children. Nearly 1,000 women seeking abortion from 30 facilities around the country participated. Researchers conducted interviews over five years and compared the trajectories of the women who received a wanted abortion to those who were turned away because they were past the facility’s gestational age limit. As legislators pass more and more laws to restrict access to abortion care, it’s important to document what happens to women who are unable to obtain an abortion.

RESULTS

Abortion does not harm women. It does not increase women’s risk of having suicidal thoughts, or the chance of developing PTSD, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, or lower life satisfaction. Abortion does not increase women’s use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs. 95% of women said abortion was the right decision for them. Women who received a wanted abortion were more likely to have a positive outlook on the future and achieve aspirational life plans within one year.

BEING DENIED AN ABORTION REDUCES WOMEN AND CHILDREN’S FINALCIAL SECURITY AND SAFETY.

Women denied an abortion had almost four times greater odds of a household income below the federal poverty level and three times greater odds of being unemployed. There was an increased likelihood that women didn’t have enough money to pay for basic family necessities like food, housing and transportation if they were denied an abortion. Women unable to terminate unwanted pregnancies were more likely to stay in contact with violent partners, putting them and their children at greater risk than if they had received the abortion. Continuing an unwanted pregnancy and giving birth is associated with more serious health problems than abortion.

WHEN WOMEN HAVE CONTROL OVER THE TIMING OF PREGNANCIES, CHILDREN BENEFIT

Existing children of women denied abortions were more than three times more likely to live in households below the federal poverty level and they were less likely to achieve developmental milestones than the existing children of women who received abortions. Nine percent of children born because an abortion was denied met the threshold for poor maternal bonding, compared to three percent of children born subsequently to women who received an abortion.

OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS

Out-of-pocket costs for women whose insurance or Medicaid did not cover abortion were $575. For more than half, out-of-pocket costs were equivalent to more than one-third of their monthly personal income. It cost closer to two-thirds of their monthly personal income for those receiving abortions after 20 weeks.

For more information about the Turnaway Study and detailed references, visit http://bit.ly/TurnawayStudy.

Anti-choice zealots often win the war of words about abortion. The time for those of us who are pro-choice to be pleasing or to attempt nuance is long past. By allowing the antis to call those of us who support accessible reproductive health care for all women “murderers,” and clumps of cells “innocent babies,” we allow them to decide the terms of the debate and to put us on the defensive. Here are some talking points. It’s time for us to claim the high ground—to talk about how anti-choicers want to kill women (which no access to reproductive health care will do), leave babies in impoverished homes, and increase the suffering of all women across the globe. Remember, WE are pro-life—ALL life. Use the term and make them ask you why. Then tell them.

Abortion Causees Mental Suffering: For many women—the girl raped by a family member, the woman whose baby is not viable, the 17-year-old who wants to go to school, the poor woman or woman of color who has no insurance and does not want to give birth in a maternity care system that is deadly for black women, abortion is a reasonable choice. Research consistently says that women are more likely to report grief, anger and sadness about a pregnancy than an abortion. The emotion women were most likely to feel after an abortion is relief. Abortion does not cause depression or anxiety. And while we know that a small number of women experience emotional issues after abortion, this is common after every major life event.

The “Abortion Industry” is Only In It for the Money: The truth is, doctors and other medical professionals take large pay cuts to perform abortions. The average abortion doctor earns $105,000; the typical OB/GYN earns nearly $250,000. Medical professionals who perform abortions do it because they want to help others. And most clinics charge barely enough to cover their expenses.

The Anti-Choice Movement Wants to Save Women’s Lives: The U.S. is the most dangerous place in the developed world to give birth and one of the few countries in the world in which maternal mortality has increased over the past 25 years. If we really cared about women, wouldn’t we make giving birth a safe and medically non-dangerous procedure? Research consistently finds that banning abortion kills women. In nations that prohibit abortion, the rate of dangerous secret abortions skyrockets and suicide becomes a leading cause of maternal death. States that attempt to ban all abortions with no exceptions or who make the procedure a felony only succeed in subjecting women to punishment and, sometimes, death, as a penalty for being raped, for example.

Anti-Choice Laws Stop Abortion: This we know is patently untrue. Research confirms that the abortion rate has fallen slightly in recent years because of expanded access to birth control and to abortion under the ACA. Not restrictive abortion policies. In Latin America where abortion is banned, the rate is more than three times the rate in the U. S. And, if women are forced underground, they will die from botch abortion attempts.

Abortion is Bad for Women’s Health: Anti-Choice fanatics have no concern for women’s health. If you oppose affordable health care, want to treat pregnancy as a pre-existing condition and take no steps to reduce maternal mortality, your claim to care about women is specious and nonsensical. Peddling the lie that abortion causes breast cancer is another lie that harms women. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a nonpartisan professional organization for OB/GYNS emphasizes that abortion care is critical to women’s health.

Pierce the myths and lies. Re-claim the moral high ground. Speak truth to protect and save women’s lives.

https://www.ansirh.org/research/turnaway-study

https://www.comparably.com/salaries/salaries-for-abortion-doctor

https://www.abortionclinics.com/abortion-clinics-by-state

https://georgiabirth.org/blogcontent/2019/2/10/things -you-need-to-know-about-the-maternal-mortality-rate-and-the-collapsing-maternity-care-system

https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/access-birth-control-through-aca-drives-down-abortion-rate

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/4/4/1847713/-Trump-Administration-Expands-Dangerous-Global-Gag-Rule-Endangering-Impoverished-Women