States With Strictest Abortion Laws Offer Least Family Support: Study
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Sept. 4, 2024 -- States with the most severe abortion restrictions are the least likely to offer support to struggling families, a new study has found.
Anti-abortion states tend to have assistance programs that exclude many families on the fringes, because participants are required to be poorer to qualify, researchers found.
These states also are less likely to have family-friendly policies like paid family leave.
“Proponents of abortion restrictions, who identify as ‘pro-life,’ assert that these policies are essential to protect children, women and families,” said senior researcher Dr. Lynn Yee, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago.
“It would seem in these states that the abortion opponent, ‘pro-life’ attitude not only begins at conception but ends there as well,” Yee added in a Northwestern news release.
For the study, researchers categorized states based on the level of abortion restrictions initiated after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The team identified 21 states that are most restrictive. Of those states, 14 have complete abortion bans with very limited exceptions and seven ban abortion after 6 to 18 weeks’ gestation.
They then looked at policies designed to help struggling families who might otherwise choose to abort a pregnancy due to their financial situation.
They found that states with the strictest abortion policies had lower enrollment in programs like Women, Infants and Children nutrition assistance or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, because women and families must be more destitute to qualify for aid.
Additionally, none of the states with the most restrictive abortion bans have a mandatory paid family leave policy, as well as fewer other policies intended to help families in challenging circumstances.
“We found that in the states that most severely restrict abortion, the women, children and families that abortion proponents seek to ‘protect’ are the populations that are left behind -- with less access to health care and family social services -- when pregnancy is continued,” said lead researcher Dr. Nigel Madden, a doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
States with abortion bans were also less likely to have policies that would aid in family planning and avoiding unwanted pregnancies, researchers said.
For example, 43% had policies in place that allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control, compared with 82% of states with the least abortion restrictions.
The new study was published Sept. 4 in the American Journal of Public Health.
“The degree to which these states fail to support their most disadvantaged populations warrants immediate attention and action,” said researcher Katie Watson, a professor of medical education, medical social sciences and obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University.
“Advocates should take this opportunity to leverage the child protection arguments of anti-abortion policymakers and encourage them to put their money where their mouth is by advocating for the implementation and improvement of policies that support individual and family well-being,” Watson added.
Sources
- Northwestern University, news release, Sept. 4, 2024
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
![](/img/logo/vendor/healthday-logo.png)
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted September 2024
Read this next
Exposure to PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' in Pregnancy Could Boost Long-Term Obesity Risk
FRIDAY, Sept. 6, 2024 -- PFAS “forever chemicals” could cause pregnant women to experience long-term weight gain, increasing their risk of obesity in middle age, a new...
Ketamine Can Fight Depression, But Pregnant Women Face Risks
THURSDAY, Sept. 5, 2024 -- Ketamine is becoming a popular depression drug, but doctors aren’t keeping in mind the danger it can pose to a pregnancy, a new study...
Billions of the World's People Deficient in Essential Micronutrients
FRIDAY, Aug. 30, 2024 -- More than half of people around the world aren’t getting enough micronutrients essential to human health, including calcium, iron and vitamins C and...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.