In the Name of the Protection of Women: Mississippi’s Hypocrisy in its Abortion Restrictions

Roe v. Wade was overturned in June of 2022 as a part of the decision in the Supreme Court case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. After the reversal, 16 states moved to ban or limit abortions and six more have bans currently being contested in court. Photo courtesy of Victoria Pickering.

In June of 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. After the reversal, many U.S. states moved to restrict or fully ban abortions. Currently, there are 16 states that have near-total bans on abortion or bans after 6 weeks with few exceptions. In addition, seven states have bans currently blocked from taking effect because they are being challenged in their state courts. 

The reversal of Roe v. Wade came as a part of the ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which challenged the legality of Mississippi’s 2018 Gestational Age Act that prohibits most abortions after 15 weeks. Mississippi has now moved to fully ban abortions except to save a pregnant person’s life and in cases of rape and incest. Despite Mississippi’s claim of wanting to protect women by banning abortion, such a ban hurts women’s mental, physical, and economic health by forcing them to experience the negative aspects of pregnancy and the burden of raising a child. Furthermore, Mississippi’s argument is further disproven by the state’s lack of provision of proper maternal healthcare and assistance. 

Restricting abortion causes physical, emotional, and economic harm to women, plainly seen by how abortion-restrictive states, like Mississippi, have consistently scored poorly on maternal and child health indicators. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2020, states with complete abortion bans have some of the highest infant mortality rates and child poverty rates in the nation, with Mississippi scoring as the worst out of all states. Additionally, maternal mortality, defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within a year of the end of pregnancy, is higher in states with restrictive abortion policies. In Mississippi, maternal mortality was 50.3 per 100,000 live births, almost double the 25.6 per 100,000 U.S. average rate. In states that increased their abortion restrictions between 1995 and 2017, maternal mortality increased at a greater rate than in states that protected abortion rights. These rates disproportionately affect Black women, as more than half of the U.S. Black population lives in abortion-restrictive states. In 2020, Black individuals had a maternal mortality rate that was nearly three times that of their white counterparts. In an analysis of recent abortion incidence, birth, and maternal mortality statistics, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder discovered that if no U.S. abortions occurred, the rate of maternal mortality would increase by 24% percent overall, and 39% for non-Hispanic Black people. The researchers contend that without abortions, more women are forced to experience pregnancy and the mortality risks of childbirth, in turn causing the increase in maternal mortality.

Due to abortion restrictions, women are being denied abortions and are forced to give birth despite their reluctance. Through being forced to give birth, such women are at an increased likelihood of injury and mortality, as seen in the higher rates of maternal mortality in states with abortion restrictions.

On the other hand, between the years of 1973 to 2022 when abortion was federally protected in the U.S., there was a 28% to 40% decline in maternal mortality for women. Thus, we can see that abortion restriction was found to correlate with higher rates of maternal mortality for women, displaying the heightened risk of injury to women through the prohibition of abortion. In contrast, legalized abortion could help protect women from such risks. 

Women also experience adverse mental and financial effects when they are not able to obtain an abortion if so desired. The Turnaway Study, a long-term study conducted over five years with 1,000 women from 30 abortion facilities across the country, demonstrated these negative outcomes. The study revealed that the denial of abortion was associated with higher levels of anxiety and stress and lower self-esteem. Furthermore, the same study demonstrated that individuals who did not receive an abortion were four times more likely to live below the federal poverty level after six months and more likely to live in poverty four years later. Also, their children were more likely to live below the poverty line. By banning abortions, states like Mississippi are harming not only women who are trying to obtain abortions but also the children they are forced to deliver.

Moreover, states like Mississippi have not taken steps to protect individuals from the adverse physical, emotional, and economic harm caused by an abortion ban. The lack of regard for women’s health is showcased most prominently by the lack of provisions for maternal assistance and healthcare, as well as childcare. Of the thirteen states that have a nearly full ban on abortions, more than ten rank in the bottom half for public health and healthcare. In addition, nine out of ten states with the largest populations living in a maternal care desert, defined as counties where there are no hospitals or birth centers offering obstetric care and no obstetric providers, have fully banned abortion. Despite the fact that such a large number of women lack access to adequate maternal healthcare, states like Mississippi have not taken action to remedy these gaps. Currently, Mississippi’s public health funding per resident is $16, less than half of the U.S. state average. In 2020, in spending the state’s federal grant designed to fund welfare programs, Mississippi allocated 5% on direct cash assistance to families and misspent $94 million, much of which ended up in the pockets of individual Mississippians, including the former Governor Phil Bryant and the retired football star Brett Favre. 

Through the Affordable Care Act, states could expand Medicaid to nearly all adults with household incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level. As low-income women make up 75% of individuals seeking abortions, such an expansion could ensure necessary maternal and child healthcare for them if they cannot obtain an abortion. However, 12 states, eight of which have banned abortion, have not expanded Medicaid despite the lack of access to care for their citizens, leaving many individuals without health insurance and the ability to have proper prenatal and maternal healthcare. According to research completed by Tufts University and Boston University physicians, “states with restrictions on Medicaid abortion coverage had 29% higher total maternal mortality than states without such policies.” However, even for those insured, many states have loose regulations on required reproductive and maternal health within insurance plans, like minimum standards for maternity benefits (i.e. prenatal and postpartum care, mental health services, and breastfeeding counseling and equipment). 

Additionally, states with increased abortion restrictions have fewer policies that support families, such as expanded family medical leave, required full-day kindergarten without tuition, and a minimum wage above the federal minimum wage. These policies contribute to worsening economic outcomes for women. For instance, 18 of the states with at least one abortion restriction policy have gender wage gaps above the national average and many of these states have poverty rates for women and children above the national average. In Mississippi specifically, nearly 28% of children and 48% of female-headed households lived below the federal poverty level in 2019. Without the necessary maternal and childcare policies, women and children in abortion-restrictive states do not have a needed legislative safety net. Therefore, not only do these states take active measures to potentially hurt women’s health by banning abortions, but they do not invoke policies that can actively support women through their pregnancy and starting a family. Despite assertions that their primary concerns are for women through these bans, Mississippi, and the dozen other states that have passed similar legislation, are consistently putting women and their children in positions that compromise their safety, demonstrating the consistent hypocrisy in their policies.

Despite asserting the prioritization of the health of women in the justification of abortion bans, Mississippi and similar states are not actually placing women’s health first in their abortion bans or in other maternal and familial governmental assistance that is signed into law. The negative effect of abortion bans on women’s health is demonstrated by the poor maternal and child health indicators of abortion-restrictive states as well as the detailed research on adverse economic and mental health effects of not receiving a wanted abortion. Additionally, through a lack of provision for adequate maternal healthcare, childcare, and other policies and programs that would help ensure the health of the mother and their child, states like Mississippi demonstrate that women’s health and safety are not their foremost priority. All over the country, women are being systematically pushed aside and left behind by these policies. With the passing of such hypocritical and damaging legislation, a menacing picture is emerging for the future and health of many families in the United States.

Ines Legrand (BC’27) is a Staff Writer for CPR. She is a freshman studying political science and economics. Outside of CPR, she enjoys drinking tea, overspending at bookstores, and watching movies.