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41 Child. Legal Rts. J. 188 (2021)
Statistically Speaking: Quality of Life Improves with Access to Choose: Easing Abortion Restrictions Benefits Both Mother and Child, Especially for Families of Color

handle is hein.journals/clrj41 and id is 201 raw text is: Statistically Speaking: Quality of Life Improves with Access to Choose: Easing Abortion Restrictions Benefits Both Mother and Child, Especially for Families of Color Emma Knight* I. INTRODUCTION Debates about abortion tend to be framed as a strict dichotomy-mothers' rights to privacy and bodily autonomy versus the rights of unborn children-but research indicates that abortion access provides wide-ranging benefits to families. Easier access to abortion is strongly correlated with improved economic and educational outcomes for mothers and children throughout both of their lifetimes, with even greater attainment for women and children of color. Access to abortion has been upheld as a fundamental right of women, especially where their health may be in danger. Nonetheless, many states across the country have enacted abortion restrictions, ranging from relatively accessible to severely restricted. This article contends that states, Congress, and the courts should protect access to abortion, not only because it is a fundamental aspect of the right to privacy, but also because it has positive, concrete effects on the lives of women and their children. This article will first discuss the research demonstrating a strong link between abortion access and better economic and educational outcomes, particularly for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). It will then address Supreme Court precedent safeguarding abortion access for women. The article will conclude by discussing existing restrictions on abortion and calling for every level of government to increase abortion access. II. THE RESEARCH ON ABORTION ACCESS Access to abortion allows women to make a decision that research indicates will alter their lives in multiple ways. The Guttmacher Institute found that 73% of women who sought an abortion did so because they could not afford to raise a baby at the time of pregnancy, and 48% cited relationship problems or a lack of interest in single motherhood. Approximately 33% of the women also indicated that a child would interfere with their education or career plans. Four in ten of the women went on to have a child, and one out of three of those women reported that they were not ready to have a child at that point in their lives. According to a longitudinal study that examined the effects of unintended pregnancy on women's lives, women who sought an abortion and were denied one were more likely to experience serious complications during pregnancy, were more likely to stay in an abusive relationship, and had less aspirational life plans within the next year. For women and their children, access to abortion may affect their economic futures, especially * Emma Knight is a 2022 J.D. Candidate at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She is an Associate Editor of the Children 's Legal Rights Journal and is interested in working in public interest and policy.

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