Reimagining reproductive rights: The ripple effects of abortion policies on women's lives
By Ilkem Gok Karci | Nov. 28, 2023
In June 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States made a pivotal decision, overturning the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, which had safeguarded abortion rights for almost half a century. This monumental ruling sent shockwaves through the nation and left an undeniable mark on the lives of women, particularly those residing in states that imposed strict abortion restrictions. According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute 22 million women of reproductive age are now living in states where abortion is not available. In these states, more than 125 thousand abortions took place in 2020, prompting the question of how many are currently seeking abortions.
But the repercussions of denying one’s reproductive rights go beyond numbers. Each person carries their own story for seeking an abortion. The 2021 New York Times opinion piece by Michele Goodwin, a college professor, underlines how much access to abortion matters. Her unsettling story unravels the systematical rape by her father, and how abortion saved her life at the age of 12 paving the way for her psychological and physical recovery, and long-run success in academia. Had she not had access to abortion, she might not have survived.
Abortion policies affect women’s educational and financial well-being in addition to taking a toll on women’s psychological and physical health. Many women restore to traveling long distances to get the care they need. Others, lacking the resources, on the other hand, must face even bigger financial burdens in the long run, those that they cannot afford.
In the United States, the leading country in teenage pregnancies in the developed world, these burdens are even more pronounced. Many teenagers, especially under the new policies, are facing the risk of not having access to abortion when needed. Considering that teenage pregnancies are more common within the lower-income groups, in the absence of abortion availability nearby, high school dropouts among young women become inevitable.
With this blog post, I will first focus on the social, educational, and economic consequences of reproductive policies, and how they are diversified across different groups in American society. With that, I intend to underline how the abolition of abortion rights can deepen the inequalities. Then, I will focus on the case of Oregon as a shining example of positive change in protecting the rights and accessibility of its residents to reproductive care to showcase how the right policies can increase social welfare, especially in the educational terrain.
The abortion stigma and social outcomes
For women living in states where abortion is restricted or entirely unavailable, the challenges are daunting. They may find themselves compelled to embark on long and costly journeys to access abortion services. The associated financial and emotional burden can be overwhelming, and they may also face the heavy weight of discrimination and stigma from their own communities, friends, and family. All in all, while seeking abortion services they may have to forego their internationally recognized rights to get an uninterrupted education, work in just and favorable conditions, and live under the highest attainable standards of physical and mental well-being.
According to Advancing Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), low-income women, in particular, are acutely affected by these restrictions, with 75% of women who seek abortions living below the federal poverty level. Financial constraints often prevent them from seeking abortion services in other states, and they are more likely to reside in areas where abortion is stigmatized, amplifying their challenges in seeking the healthcare services that they need. Furthermore, the women who are denied an abortion are more likely to stay with their violent partners and become single mothers by the fifth year.
Yet, the women who seek abortions are not the only ones to suffer from these unjust policies. A study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, explored the lives of children born to women who were denied an abortion. The findings were striking - these children were more likely to grow up in poverty, with a 31% higher risk of living in poverty compared to their counterparts whose mothers had access to abortion. Moreover, children born to mothers denied an abortion were 40% more likely to be raised by single mothers. This study underlines that even the mother-child bonds are significantly hindered when abortion choice is not available to pregnant women.
The impact of abortion policies on educational outcomes
Abortion policies have undeniable long-run effects on almost every aspect of women’s lives for sure, but perhaps, the impacts on education are the most easily observable. This area presents a unique opportunity to easily quantify both the short-run and long-run effects of abortion policies, one of the reasons why it attracts the focus of many economists including myself. Besides, even small variations in educational outcomes can lead to large economic disparities.
Hence, the link between abortion policies and educational outcomes is a subject that demands attention, and statistics paint a compelling picture of its effects. The Turnaway Study conducted by ANSIRH the Population Research and Policy Review found that states with stringent abortion restrictions experienced a significant reduction in college enrollment and attainment. In these states, college attendance among women decreased by an average of 6.2% when compared to states with more lenient abortion policies.
This impact was particularly pronounced among Black women, with an average of 2% reduction in college enrollment. This is not surprising since Black and Hispanic women are much more prone to experiencing unintended pregnancies as well as seeking abortions. The educational disparities between different racial and ethnic groups are both one of the drivers of this phenomenon and a result of unjust policies. As a result, barriers to abortion are harming human rights for deepening the inequality in access to education as well.
Teen pregnancy in the United States
The high rate of teen pregnancies in the U.S. makes the American society even more vulnerable to the changes in abortion policies. Notably, teen mothers are more likely to drop out of high school, with approximately 50% of teen mothers failing to graduate high school, compared to only 10% of their non-parenting peers. These statistics reveal the immediate and lasting impact of teen pregnancy on educational attainment.
But the effects of teen pregnancy extend beyond the educational sphere. Teen mothers also face economic hardship, with 80% of them relying on welfare within the first five years of their child's birth. The challenges of raising a child at a young age often disrupt their ability to complete their education, find stable employment, and achieve financial independence.
These effects are exacerbated for low-income women due to a vicious cycle. While the women living in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to become pregnant during their teenage years, simultaneously, the low-income teen mothers are less likely to graduate from high school and college compared to their peers in higher-income areas, and earn as much in the long-run.
Oregon's reproductive health affirmative policies
While the majority of the recent studies focus on how the recent alterations to abortion policies have negatively impacted women in the restrictive states as summarized above, I want to take a different perspective and focus on the best practices. To that end, I investigate the policies and respective results in the State of Oregon as it stands as an exception in a landscape where women's reproductive rights are under constant scrutiny.
Oregon stands out among the states for many reasons. Not only abortions are legal under any circumstances and at any stage of pregnancy, including minors’ right to get an abortion without the consent of their parents, but also the procedures have to be covered by health insurances including Medicaid since the state passed the Reproductive Health Equity Act in 2017. This is a groundbreaking piece of legislation that made abortions accessible especially to those who are the most susceptible to the abortion barriers, and as a result, Oregon became the third state in lowering teen birth rates following California and Massachusetts.
Oregon's impact on women's long-term economic empowerment
As a result of the affirmative reproductive care policies and the underlying social structure in Oregon, the state has been exceeding the U.S. average in women’s labor force participation and the catching up of women’s earnings to those of men’s since the policy change. This translates to not only individual financial security but also societal benefits, as it reduces the likelihood of women and their families relying on social support programs. Furthermore, the state took a critical step by prohibiting employers from discriminating against their employees based on their reproductive health decisions, making the approach to abortions all-inclusive in protecting women from financial downfalls.
and Abortion Clinics (shown in black).
Moreover, Oregon's approach led to a 35% reduction among 15 to 17 years old girls. The map above shows a preliminary approach in understanding the effects of this reduction on high school dropout rates. We can observe that counties closer to abortion clinics, or to Washington where Oregonians can also seek abortions, experienced lower high school dropout rates aside for a few exceptions. I am investigating these results further in my research as long-run financial returns on funding women’s reproductive rights form a solid ground for endorsing these rights when policymakers in majority of the states have no interest in women’s wellbeing.
Conclusion: The imperative of protecting women's reproductive rights
In summation, the nexus of abortion policies and women's health, education and financial stability is undeniable. Women's reproductive rights are intrinsic to their overall health, financial security, and educational attainment. When women have access to safe and legal abortion, they are more likely to graduate from school, be employed, and achieve higher earnings, as supported by numerous studies and statistics.
Oregon's Reproductive Health Equity Act has set a commendable example, demonstrating that policies protecting women's reproductive rights can lead to an increase in women's long-term economic empowerment, accompanied by improvements in health and well-being. It is imperative that we safeguard and fund women's reproductive rights, recognizing that they are not only essential for individual well-being but also vital for societal economic progress and gender equality.
