States with the toughest abortion laws have the weakest maternal supports, data shows

Nearly two dozen states have moved to restrict abortion or ban it altogether since the reversal of Roe v. Wade — meaning more people, especially those with low incomes and from marginalized communities, will be forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term.

So are states prepared to pay for the infrastructure needed to support these parents and children? The data paints a grim picture for many families: Mothers and children in states with the toughest abortion restrictions tend to have less access to health care and financial assistance, as well as worse health outcomes.

Stuart Butler, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, calls the end of Roe "a double whammy" for people who live in these states, which are mostly in the South.

"They are far less likely to have assistance for themselves and their children, and they are far less likely to have health care available to them when they are pregnant and for their children," he tells Morning Edition. "And that means that there's going to be not only more hardship, but greater health problems and maternal deaths and so on ... unless there is a fundamental change in political behavior in those states."

As NPR has reported, a large body of research shows that being denied an abortion limits peoples' education, time in the workforce and wages, with the economic consequences extending well into the lives of their children. One groundbreaking project called The Turnaway Study spent a decade comparing the experiences of people who had abortions with those who wanted abortions but were denied them, and found that those who were denied treatment experienced worse economic and mental health outcomes than those who received care.

Dr. Diana Greene Foster, the demographer behind the study, that the findings show that pregnant people who are unable to get a safe, legal abortion and end up carrying the pregnancy to term will