From Mississippi to the Supreme Court: How 50 Years of Reproductive Rights are Crumbling

Pro-choice and affordable reproductive healthcare rally in Washington D.C. in 2017. Photo.

The last abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi is fighting for its life as the Supreme Court evaluates the constitutionality of pre-viability abortion bans in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Extending federal protection of the right to bodily autonomy and abortions during the first and second trimester of pregnancy, Roe v. Wade has served as precedent for 50 years. The outcome of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization could devastate the lives of millions of women already plagued by insufficient reproductive rights. To reverse Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey is to deny a woman’s fundamental rights to abortion while endangering women who will no longer have safe access to legal abortions, especially those in high-poverty states, who are typically low-income women, women of color, and young women. 

Two decades after the Roe v. Wade ruling, in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the principal holding in Roe v. Wade, but adopted a viability framework that prevents states from placing an  “undue burden” on women’s right to abortion before viability. This “undue burden” was subsequently defined by the ability of a developing fetus to survive independent of the womb, at around 24 weeks of pregnancy. For years, Mississippi has passed restrictive legislation targeting women seeking abortions as well as abortion clinics and physicians with burdensome requirements such as required ultrasounds, state-directed counseling, and a two trip policy. Currently, the Court is hearing Mississippi’s appeal to reconsider the 2018 Gestational Age Act, which bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical emergencies or severe fetal abnormality. Notably, this piece of legislation does not include exceptions for instances of rape or incest. 

Mississippi’s ineffective healthcare system and pregnancy discrimination are issues that demand abortion legalization. Mississippi has one of the highest poverty rates in America and consistently ranks last for indicators measuring the health of women and children, and in-state health system performances measured by the access and quality of care, health outcomes, and health disparities. Moreover, in 2021, the U.S. Department of Treasury found that 70% of families in Mississippi are unable to afford childcare, and while an abortion ban would be devesating to women all across America, minority and low-income women will ultimately bear the brunt of further abortion restrictions or outright abortion bans. People of color constitute 44% of Mississippi’s population, and women of color constitute 80% of those receiving abortions due to inequalities within healthcare. This phenomenon is not unique to Mississippi, and actually extends to various other conservative, southern states. States who have conservative abortion laws have continuously failed women when it comes to reproductive rights, and often leave them without financial security in the event of an unwanted pregnancy. 

Despite the odds being stacked against low-income, minority women, anti-abortion advocates continue to claim that women have economically progressed to the point where Roe v. Wade should be a remnant of the past. In defense of abortion bans, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch claimed that laws Roe v. Wade that combat pregnancy discrimination and the creation of childcare assistance laws allows women “to pursue both career success and a rich family life.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett even suggested that the option of giving up a child for adoption effectively alleviates the burden of an unwanted pregnancy. According to Barrett, Roe v. Wade emphasizes the consequences of forced motherhood on women’s access to equal opportunities and jobs, but the progress since  Roe v. Wade and new laws have made pregnancy and parenthood separate burdens. Therefore, anti-abortion advocates claim, abortions, along with Roe v. Wade, are no longer needed, especially given safe-haven laws that allow a person to anonymously give up a newborn infant in designated locations without criminalization. However, the idea that economic progress and a few pregnancy-related laws makes abortions unnecessary masks the influence of discriminatory reproductive health policies and denies the brutal realities of pregnancy in Mississippi. 

Not only do abortion restrictions affect more minority women, Mississippi’s healthcare system makes the entire process extremely difficult and dangerous. Mississippi has the highest rate of infant mortality in America, at a percentage of approximately 50% higher than the national average, as well as a substantially higher maternal mortality rate. The racial disparities are also incredibly staggering. In Mississippi, the mortality rate for black infants was 70% higher than mortality rates for white infants in 2016, and the pregnancy-related death ratio for black women was nearly three times the rate for white women. Furthermore, studies show that abortion legalization actually reduced the maternal mortality rate among black women by 30% to 40%, and also reduced the number of teen mothers by 34% and the number of teen brides by 20%, with a larger observed effect on black teens. The main cause of racial disparities: overwhelming burdens on low-income, minority women to travel to a safe abortion clinic. 

With only one abortion clinic in the entire state of Mississippi, women face the burden of traveling long distances due to the telemedicine ban that restricts healthcare providers from using telemedicine for abortion services. On top of a 24-hour waiting period and mandated counseling designed to discourage abortions, the consequences of abortion restrictions devestate low income women with even more financial barriers. If Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, 41% of women at a reproductive age would see their nearest abortion clinic close, and the average distance they would have to travel for legal abortion services would increase to 279 miles to the nearest abortion clinic. For low-income women, the increased travel time can make safe abortions impossible. The brutal realities of pregnancy in Mississippi makes the lives of already marginalized communities in life-threatening situations even more difficult without providing any sufficient financial remedies. 

The outcome of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will have consequences extending far beyond the borders of Mississippi. In 2016, former President Trump promised to appoint justices to the Supreme Court with the intent to overturn Roe v. Wade and appeal to conservative Christian voters. Trump managed to cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the court that prompted republican-controlled states to repeatedly pass abortions bans, and now, they might succeed. Currently, a dozen states have enacted trigger bans, laws that would automatically ban abortion in the first and second trimesters if Roe v. Wade is overturned, and an estimated 26 states are either certain or likely to ban legal abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Anti-abortion advocates stand on empty, unsupported arguments without any consideration for the well-being of women or their futures. The economic progress and childcare laws that Fitch and Barrett claim render abortions unnecessary crumble at their foundations. The Center on the Economics of Reproductive Health discovered that targeted restrictions on abortion providers (TRAP) laws and abortion bans cost local economies $105 billion each year due to reduced labor force participation and earnings among women, and the United States is one of six countries in the world without paid parental leave, making it the only wealthy country without it. 

Since Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has recognized that protecting abortion directly impacts women’s lives, health, and futures. The threat to reproductive rights for women is imminent and pressing because millions of lives depend on unrestricted access to abortions. A post-Roe v. Wade world not only denies women basic human rights but leaves behind low-income, minority women who need help the most.

Catherine Li is a sophomore in CC studying economics and political science.