What losing abortion rights will mean for people's mental health

There is a day that Americans know is coming. The Supreme Court decision that established a right to abortion is no longer in existence.

We are aware of what this means. More than half of American women live in states that don't allow abortions. They will no longer have access to abortion in the near future. It is difficult to travel to where the procedure is legal for those living below the poverty line. In order to meet the urgent needs of reproductive justice activists, they need to organize support for abortion funds and coordinate travel to other states.

The impact on mental health can be a consequence of abortion access. Being denied an abortion raises the likelihood of living in poverty and being tied to an abusive partner, both of which are bad for well-being, according to research.

The decision should make us wonder what happens when women and people who can become pregnant live in a state where abortion care is not only hard to get, but also banned with rare exceptions.

Will the Supreme Court's decision lead to low-level dread for people who can become pregnant but don't have enough money to travel to another place to get an abortion? Will it make women of color, trans women, and non-binary people more afraid of being targeted and criminalized if they self-manage an abortion? We need to understand what this decision means for people's well-being if we are to answer such questions.

An associate professor and senior researcher at the University of California at San Francisco who studies what happens to women's mental health when they can't access abortion thinks the decision will lead to worse emotional and psychological experiences.

It's not good for people's mental health to lose their bodily autonomy.

Women who were denied an abortion had higher levels of anxiety and self-esteem than women who had the procedure. The women who were forced to give birth experienced more long-term physical health problems and financial instability. They were more likely to live in poverty if they were with a violent partner. cascading effects heighten the risk of experiencing anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder

The data doesn't make sense to suggest that abortion harms people's mental health. A number of experts told me that this idea was based on flawed research. "If you can even call it science, they are making wrong conclusions and really bad science," said one person.

This is a perverse justification to give anyone who fears being forced to give birth a reason to do so.

Women who receive an abortion are more likely to experience psychological distress later in life. She thinks that pregnant people will feel worse about themselves in the future if they internalize the stigma of new state bans. Those who had to make disclosures about seeking or receiving abortion care, typically because they needed help paying for it and related travel costs, had negative mental health symptoms as well.

Being denied abortion affects so many aspects of your life. It's heartbreaking to think about that.

Imagine if it were possible for pregnant people in a state where abortion is banned to be alone with their struggles, worried that they could be used against them. The Supreme Court's decision guarantees that many pregnant people will feel more alone than they have before. They deserved better than this and should not be forgotten.

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