Report Shows How The Fall Of Roe Will Hit Millions Of Black Women
More than half of Black women of childbearing age live in states where abortion restrictions are set to be introduced since the U.S. Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade two years ago, a new report reveals.
An analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF) and In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda says Black women were already facing a “maternal health crisis” as a result of limited access to paid leave and discriminatory healthcare practices, and problems “have only been exacerbated” since Roe fell.
More than 6.7 million Black women aged 15-49, which the report defines as reproductive age, live in 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion, according to the report’s findings as NBC News first reported. The figure equates to 57% of all Black women in the age group.
The report also revealed nearly 2.7 million Black women living in impacted states are “economically insecure,” undermining their ability to pay to travel to another state for abortion care.
The research further shows that more than 1.4 million Black women in the 26 states surveyed work in service industry jobs where employers are less likely to provide access to abortion services or provide paid sick days and flexible working.
The agencies argue that the crackdown on abortion rights in certain states are “especially harmful” — highlighting the disadvantages faced in the South. Black women in Florida, Texas and Georgia — three states with some of the toughest laws — account for 44% of Black women in abortion ban states.
Jocelyn Frye, president of the NPWF, told NBC News: “When you look at the experiences of Black women, you can address a lot of different barriers that women face, whether it’s from race, gender — there are also women with disabilities.
“Black women are often the bellwether of how well things are working. So when we fix things for Black women, we fix them for a lot of people.”
The report also noted a crisis facing Black women even before Roe’s demise, highlighting Black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth as compared to white women.
Some 14 states have banned abortion, and 11 have restricted access to the procedure, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest update. This month, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) signed a bill to repeal the state’s near-total ban on abortion, weeks after its high court ruled that the state’s 1864 statute on the issue could go into effect.
