State Abortion Bans Will Harm Women and Families' Economic Security Across the U.S.
By Lauren Hoffman, Osub Ahmed, Isabela Salas-Betsch
Some women, especially women of means, will find ways around the State's assertion of power.
Others those without money or child care or the ability to take time off from work-will not be so
Courtne 24, 2022, in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme
Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the nearly 50 years of precedent that protected the right to abortion. In
addition to securing the right to access a critical health service, Roe positively affected women's labor
force participation and educational attainment, significantly bolstering the ability of women and families,
along with state and local economies, to thrive. That progress is now at risk.
While the denial of the right to an abortion has nationwide consequences, the effects on women and
families' economic security will be particularly devastating in the 27 states that have at least one abortion
for women and families across the country. For example, of these states:
ban on the books. Many of these states already have some of the worst economic and health outcomes
None guarantee
e paid family and medical leave.
Eighteen have gender wage gaps above the national average.
Twenty-two have poverty rates for women above the national average.
Seventeen have poverty rates for children above the national average.
Nineteen have not extended Medicaid coverage to 12 months postpartum.
Only four legally require insurers to cover an extended supply of contraceptives.
Without robust federal and state action to strengthen the nation's social safety net and advance policies to
help working families, women, and other people who can become pregnant, facing unintended
parenthood in those states are likely to fall even further through the cracks-with downstream effects on
their children, communities, and local and state economies. It is therefore imperative that, in the absence
of Roe, federal and state governments use every mechanism available to them to protect women's
access to abortion care. While this is certainly not a replacement for abortion access, the current moment
should serve as a catalyst for the passage of long-overdue legislation and policies that can safeguard
women's and families' economic security.
The connection between abortion legalization and women's advancement
Roe v. Wade and access to reproductive health care, including abortion, helped lead to increased labor
force participation. It enabled many women to finish school. That increased their earning potential. It
allowed women to plan and balance their families and careers.
Abortion legalization under Roe was integral to women's advancement in the United States. During a
recent Senate Banking Committee hearing, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen stated that "Roe v.
Wade and access to reproductive health care, including abortion, helped lead to increased labor force
participation. It enabled many women to finish school. That increased their earning potential. It allowed
women to plan and balance their families and careers."
Research confirms the positive effects of abortion legalization on a range of economic indicators,
including labor force participation, educational attainment, earnings, and child poverty-with particularly
notable gains for Black women. Moreover, when women are denied access to abortion, it can negatively
affect their economic security and that of their families, and state and local economies can suffer
significant financial losses.
Increases in labor force participation, educational attainment, and earnings under abortion legalization
Following the Supreme Court's decision in Roe in 1973, women experienced a significant increase in
abor force participation. (see Figure 1) The largest gains occurred in the decade and a half following Roe,
uring which women's labor force participation grew at the fastest rate on record, including faster than