an increased likelihood of delaying prenatal care.
“Unintended pregnancies are at higher risk for medical complications, which can extend beyond once the baby is delivered,” Dr. Amy Addante, an OBGYN in Illinois and a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health says.
A five-year research project at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco, called The Turnaway Study, which looked at 1,000 women who sought abortions across 30 facilities in the U.S. found that women who were denied abortions had more serious health problems, such as high blood pressure or seizures than those who had abortions. Additionally, two women who were denied abortions died from conditions related to their pregnancies.
“We can definitely say that if these people had been able to get the care that they wanted, those maternal deaths would have been avoided,” Ralph, one of the study’s researchers notes.
3. Prosecution
If a pregnant woman seeks to end her pregnancy in a state where abortion is banned, she faces the risk of prosecution.
4. Financial hardship
Research shows that unwanted pregnancies cause several harmful and long-term consequences for mothers, including a higher chance of financial hardship and a severe toll on mental health. According to research, a group of women that was denied abortions experienced greater bankruptcies, evictions and debt than other people who received their wanted abortion. The financial hardship also extends to the children of pregnant women seeking to get an abortion to continue providing for the children they already have. Children of pregnant women seeking an abortion were more likely to live in poverty, and less likely to achieve developmental milestones than the children whose mothers were able to get an abortion, according to research.
Research has suggested that overturning Roe would reduce the number of legal abortions by around 14 percent, according to the Times. Many states would still provide the procedure, and some are taking steps to help women in states that ban it. But women who cannot travel will be left with few options: Ordering pills online, conducting dangerous procedures themselves, or going through with the birth.