08/29/2024 | Press release | Archived content
'Pro-life attitude begins at conception but ends there as well'
Kristin Samuelson
Journal: American Journal of Public Health
View study onlineCHICAGO --- States with the most severe post-Dobbs abortion restrictions also have the fewest policies in place to support raising families, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.
"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 and corresponding author Dr. Nigel Madden, a recent graduate of the fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and now an instructor at Harvard Medical School and physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
The study was published Sept. 4 in the American Journal of Public Health.
This is one of the only academic studies to systematically examine the intersection between post-Dobbs state abortion policy and state access to reproductive health care and family social policies and programs. (A breakdown of the abortion restrictions by state is below).
"Proponents of abortion restrictions, who identify as 'pro-life,' assert that these policies are essential to protect children, women and families," said senior author Dr. Lynn Yee, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Feinberg and a Northwestern Medicine physician. "It would seem in these states that the abortion opponent, 'pro-life' attitude not only begins at conception but ends there as well."
Certain groups disproportionally bear a greater burden from abortion bans, the study authors said. People of low socioeconomic status and marginalized people are more likely to seek abortion, previous research has found. They're also less likely to be able to overcome the barriers imposed by abortion bans and restrictions, such as needing to travel out of state to receive care.
Compared to the least restrictive states, the study found states with more severe abortion restrictions are:
"The degree to which these states fail to support their most disadvantaged populations warrants immediate attention and action," said co-author Katie Watson, professor of medical education, medical social sciences and obstetrics and gynecology at Feinberg. "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."
This might include adding new policies like postpartum Medicaid expansion or paid family and medical leave; increasing eligibility for state-based assistance programs like WIC and TANF or creating new programs like mobile health clinics to serve pregnant people in maternity care deserts, the study authors said.
The study categorized states into three post-Dobbs abortion-restriction groups based on state abortion policies as of December 2023 (see map):