The Overturn Of Roe Vs. Wade: Unforeseen Consequences

The Overturn Of Roe Vs. Wade: Unforeseen Consequences

By: Amanda Hildreth

The elimination of Roe v. Wade has been devastating to many people in the United States, not just those who need access to safe abortions. The overturn has also affected unforeseen secondary groups, such as people of color and people with disabilities. 

The overturn of Roe v. Wade isn’t simply about abortions, it is greatly affecting healthcare as a whole. 

What Is Roe Vs. Wade?

Roe vs. Wade is the United States Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in 1973. From the beginning, Roe vs. Wade was flawed. It only certified that people had the right to abortion but didn’t protect access to abortion (Center For Reproductive Rights, 2022).  

How Roe V. Wade Was Overturned

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court oversaw a decision in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which challenged a Mississippi ban on abortion at 15 weeks gestation. The ruling then overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the federal constitutional right to abortion within the United States (Center For Reproductive Rights, 2022). 

One in three women now lives in states where they can’t access abortion. Within six months after the overturn, 24 states banned or highly restricted abortion. These bans have caused harm to Black, Latino, Indigenous, and other people of color, where systematic racism has often blocked access to healthcare opportunities (Nash, E., & Guarnieri, I., 2023). 

How New Laws Prevent Proper Treatment

New laws after the overturn have complicated the proper treatment of several conditions, including (Washburn, 2022):

• Treatments for miscarriages are the same used to induce abortions. Some pharmacists won’t fill these prescriptions. 
• Ectopic pregnancy is the most common cause of death in the first trimester of pregnancy. Without proper treatment, women can die or become infertile. Some laws prevent proper treatment of ectopic pregnancy.
• Abortion is sometimes needed to resolve fatal preeclampsia in pregnancy.
• Premature rupture of the membranes can occur in pregnancy past the abortion deadline and now can’t be treated until sepsis develops. 
• Pregnant cancer patients don’t have the option of aborting a baby before cancer treatment can have a negative effect.
• States with strict laws on abortion don’t include exemptions for several fetal abnormalities which can’t be detected until 20 weeks, which is long past many abortion deadlines.

How The Overturn Has Affected Disabled People

Due to the overturn of Roe v. Wade, disabled people no longer have access to certain medications they rely on, for example, Methotrexate. Methotrexate is typically used for the treatment of chronic illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (Barcus, 2022). 

Those living with these chronic conditions suffer from crippling pain and rely on these medications for daily function. Besides not having access to medications for managing their disabilities, those with disabilities are also more likely to have complications during pregnancy. 

People living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome are nine times more likely to have complications during pregnancy, which can result in death (Karthikeyan, Venkat-Raman, 2018).

How The Overturn Has Affected Foster Youth

Foster youth live in environments with little control over their bodies and lives, with foster homes providing restricted access to healthcare. It also isn’t uncommon for a foster home to deny placement for youth if they don’t agree to take birth control, and access to healthcare is reliant on the level of engagement of the foster parents (Barcus, 2022). 

How The Overturn May Affect The Economy

Women are an essential part of the workforce, and caregivers are essential to the economy. The overturn can impact women’s ability to take care of themselves and their children. 

Sixty percent of women in the United States who have abortions are already mothers, and one-third of the women seeking an abortion state their reason for wanting an abortion is to care for the children they already have (Foster, Rifman, Gipson, Rocca, and Biggs, 2018).

Here are some of the ways that the overturn of Roe v. Wade may impact the economy and society:

• Decreased Workforce Participation: Due to the fact that women have the majority of caregiving duties contributes to the fact that 43% of working mothers leave their careers at some point (Hewlett and Luce, 2005). Women lose an average of 37% of their earning potential when they spend three or more years outside of the workforce.

• Decreased Earning Potential: While young women are beginning to close the wage gap, any gains that were made are reduced once they have children, and their wages drop due to bias, discrimination, and lack of support. 

Data shows that mothers working full-time all year outside the home are paid 75 cents to the dollar compared to fathers. The gap also becomes bigger based on race and ethnicity, with Latina mothers being paid 46 cents versus every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic fathers, Native American mothers being paid 50 cents, and Black mothers being paid 52 cents to the dollar (Corbett, 2021). 

• Negative Impact On Children’s Financial Status: The lack of access to abortion can also impact the financial wellbeing of children. A study found that children born as a result of the mother being denied abortion access were more prone to live below the poverty level than children born from pregnancy after the women had received an abortion (Ansirh, 2023).

• Negative Impact On Equality: Access to abortion can also impact gender and racial equality by allowing women to choose when to become parents, which gives them greater control over their careers, education, and financial security. A brief reported that legalized abortion reduced teen motherhood by 34% and teen marriage by 20% (Supreme Court Of The United States, 2021). 

For Black women who have a higher rate of pregnancy mortality, the reduction in the birth rate was two to three times greater than for white women. Black women also experienced a 2840% decline in pregnancy mortality with legalization (Supreme Court Of The United States, 2021).

Americans Approve Of Abortion Rights

Abortion is both familiar and accepted in the United States. There is a large amount of data to prove that Americans support abortion rights, including:

• The overturn of Roe v. Wade was unpopular as 85% of Americans think that abortion should be legal (Brenan, 2021). 
• Regardless of age, education level, or background, the majority of people supported Roe before the overturn (Benen, 2021). 
• Around 1 in 4 women in the United States will have an abortion by 45 (Guttmacher Institute, 2019). 
• Reproductive rights champions in states all over the US have worked to protect and expand access to abortion for decades (Berg, 2022). 

How You Can Help Others With Access To Resources

Here are some specific actions you can take to help those seeking abortion care (Diamondstein, 2022):

1. Donate To Abortion Funds: These funds directly support people seeking abortion care, including financial and practical support such as translation, lodging, or transportation.

2.  Donate To Independent Clinics: Donate funds to a small community-based abortion clinic to provide the community with access to abortion and other essential reproductive health services.

3.  Speak Up: Speak to your friends, family, colleagues, and community leaders to explain why the right to abortion is essential to communities and a person’s future. 

4.  Lawmakers Stance: Research where your lawmakers stand on abortion rights and urge them to act and protect abortion rights and access through laws.

5.  Contact Congress: Tell Congress to protect abortion access in every state. Passing the Women’s Health Protection Act would protect abortion access from state-level bans and restrictions, despite the overturn.

We at Abuse Refuge Org (ARO) are here to support you in your personal healing journey to complete well-being. We bring awareness and education to 21 different types of abuse, including Narcissistic, Sexual, Physical, Psychological, Financial, Child, Self, Cyberbullying, Bullying, Spousal, Elderly, Isolation, Workplace, Religious, Medical, Food, Authority, Educational, Child Sexual Exploitation, Sex Trafficking, Political by helping others heal and find peace. Please support our efforts by going to GoARO.org to learn how you can make an impact on the Abuse Care Community and provide life-saving financial assistance with a donation.

References

Center for Reproductive Rights. (2022, December 8). Roe v. Wade. Center for Reproductive Rights. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;

Nash, E., & Guarnieri, I. (2023, February 8). Six Months post-roe, 24 U.S. states have banned abortion or are likely to do so: A roundup. Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;

Washburn, L. (2022, September 17). Roe v. Wade and unintended consequences. The Spectrum. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;

Barcus, A. (2022, August 16). Roe v. Wade: Unintended Consequences. The Imprint. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/roe-v-wade-unintended-consequences/66554?gclid=CjwKCAjw_MqgBhAGEiwAnYOAevoCgmwQMEHBLqM64_IjohpfX8WrYKvGDZl-wBXv3yRSybEqspAqfxoCvUoQAvD_BwE 

Karthikeyan, A., & Venkat-Raman, N. (2018, September). Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and pregnancy. Obstetric medicine. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;

Foster, D. G., Raifman, S. E., Gipson, J. D., Rocca, C. H., & Biggs, M. A. (2018, October 30). Effects of Carrying an Unwanted Pregnancy to Term on Women’s Existing Children. The Journal Of Pediatrics. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;

Hewlett, S. A., & Luce, C. B. (2005, March). Off-ramps and on-ramps: Keeping talented women on the road to Success. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2005/03/off-ramps-and-on-ramps-keeping-talented-women-on-the-road-to-success 

Corbett, H. (2021, May 5). Mother’s equal pay Day 2021: Women lost $800 billion last year. Forbes. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/hollycorbett/2021/05/04/mothers-equal-pay-day-2021-women-lost-800-billion-last-year/?sh=31787765ea6f 

University of California San Francisco. (2023). The harms of denying a woman a wanted abortion – ANSIRH. The Harms of Denying a Woman a Wanted Abortion Findings from the Turnaway Study. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;

Supreme Court Of The United States. (2021, September 20). Supreme Court of the United States – Keker, van nest & peters LLP. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ‘ %20Brief%20-%20Dobbs%20v_%20JWH.pdf 

Brenan, M. (2022, January 11). Record-high 47% in U.S. think abortion is morally acceptable. Gallup.com. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;

Benen, S. (2021, November 16). Why the new polling on abortion rights and Roe V. Wade Matters. MSNBC. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;

Induced abortion in the United States. Guttmacher Institute. (2019, September). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;

Berg, M. (2022, January 21).  Amid threats to Roe v. Wade, some states are expanding access to abortion. Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;

Diamondstein, M. (2022, July 5). Seven things you can do right now for abortion rights. Center for Reproductive Rights. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from ;