CLEVELAND, Ohio — The loss of reproductive freedom could create a greater divide between wealthy and marginalized women, especially hourly workers and those with disabilities, say advocates for communities of color and low-income families in Cleveland.
“Lose Roe v. Wade is going to have extremely damaging and cascading effects on an entire generation of women,” she said. Chinenye Nkemere, co-founder of Enlightened Solutions, a Cleveland-based social advocacy think tank that examines health equity issues. Nkemere is also a member of the board of directors for the Preterm Ohio abortion clinic.
The people most affected by changes in abortion access will be those with the fewest resources, said Alana Belle, deputy director of Ohio Women’s Alliance, a state organization working for reproductive justice.
“Many low-wage workers are hourly employees without much, if any, job security,” Belle said in an email. “Before you even think about raising another child, managing the logistics of a full-term pregnancy can be daunting.”
Belle listed some of the many obstacles women face when they are pregnant: transportation to and from medical appointments, insurance copays attached to those appointments, as well as finding child care, appointment times compatible with work schedules, and income to keep home when parental leave is unavailable
Restricting access to abortion will further dilute underfunded programs like SNAP benefits, Belle said. “It will deepen food insecurity for the most vulnerable members of our community,” Belle said.
Adoption advocates offer it as an alternative to abortion, but adoption isn’t as viable for many black and brown families, Nkemere said. Adoption rates for children of color are lower than for white children.
black children are overrepresented among foster youthindicated a 2020 study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count Data Center.
In 2018, black children represented 14% of the total child population, but 23% of all children in foster care, according to the foundation’s study.
By comparison, white children made up 50% of the nation’s child population and 44% of those in foster care. Latino and Hispanic children make up 25% of the nation’s children, but 21% of foster youth.
Nationwide, advocates for communities of color and undocumented immigrants have raised specific concerns with the White House about women in those groups accessing abortion across state lines. And state lawmakers have pushed for more federal resources to help manage what many describe as a looming crisis.
Privacy experts worry that law enforcement could use period-tracking apps to monitor abortions and the possibility that destroying embryos could become more difficult for those undergoing in vitro fertilization.
Will abortion restrictions mean fewer unmarried couples have unprotected sex? Income or marital status do not predict parenthood readiness, Belle said.
“People who are married or in a relationship have abortions,” Belle said. “Economically stable people abort. People in their 30s and 40s have abortions. The conversation needs to focus on providing comprehensive sexuality education and properly equipping people to make fully informed decisions about their own reproductive health.”
For example, data shows that one-third of Ohio abortions in 2019 involved people at least 30 years old and about 15% involved married people.
“This is fundamentally an economic problem,” Nkemere said. he said. With abortion restrictions in place, “we are essentially making sure that future generations are not as prepared, self-determined or rising as we need our future to be.”
The landscape in Ohio
In Ohio and across the country, abortion rates among women of color are higher than white women.
For example, in 2020 in Ohio, 48.1% of women seeking abortions were black, 43.8% were white, 4.5% were multiracial, 3.3% were Asian/Pacific Islander, and 0.3% were American Indian, according to state abortion. report.
If the state bans abortion, Ohio women would have to travel up to 339 miles and could spend $400 or more in driving costs, according to research from Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati.
In a 2018 study, Researchers in California and Kentucky examined the effect of a 2011 Ohio law that regulates how abortion providers can offer medical abortions or abortion pills to their patients.
The study suggests that lower gestational age, higher cost, and the time and travel charges required by Ohio’s abortion pill law were associated with reduced access among women who were younger, black, less educated and in lower socioeconomic groups.
A 10-year national study of women those who were denied abortions showed that they experienced an increase in household poverty for at least four years, had poorer physical health, and were more likely to remain with a violent partner.
Reference-www.cleveland.com