The End of Roe: It’s Worse Than You Think
The nearly-inevitable nullification of Roe by a radicalized, right-leaning Supreme Court has far-reaching, devastating consequences.
--
A draft Supreme Court judgment has leaked, overturning the landmark abortion rights decision in Roe v. Wade. If upheld in the court’s final decision, women in 26 states could immediately lose abortion and reproductive rights. This is the culmination of a decades-long fight against “Roe” waged by right-wing activists at the center of America’s culture wars.
More than 20 states have a type of law called a “trigger law” set to go into effect following a Supreme Court ruling potentially overturning Roe. Some states also have abortion bans on the books that predate Roe, which have not been enforced. Other laws express states’ intent to crack down on abortion if the Supreme Court allows it.
States that continue to allow legalized abortions could see an influx of out-of-state patients seeking help. For example, after Texas enacted its six-week abortion ban last year, some residents were forced to travel outside the state to obtain abortions. In the last four months of last year, Planned Parenthood clinics in states near Texas reported a nearly 800 percent increase in abortion patients from Texas compared to the same period last year.
Women of color will also be disproportionately affected by further abortion restrictions. Black and Hispanic women are more likely to have abortions than their peers, according to The Associated Press. Women of color also experience higher poverty rates and may have greater difficulty in gaining access to travel for an abortion, the AP said. Restrictions on access to abortion can also have negative long-term health effects. A study from the University of California San Francisco found that women are harmed when denied access to abortion. They interviewed women who gave birth under these conditions and found that they suffered from years of economic hardship, were more likely to have to raise the child…
