Latinas The Most Affected Among Women Of Color By Abortion Bans

The majority of women of color who are affected by the current and future state abortion bans and restrictions are Latinas. In the roughly two dozen states where officials are seeking to make abortion inaccessible, more than 4 in 10 Latinas of reproductive age reside, said reports.

According to a new analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, it was found that close to 6.5 million Latinas (42% of all Latinas ages 15-49) live in 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortions after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade this summer.

"This community is really facing the brunt of the overturn of Roe v. Wade,” a co-author of the analysis, Candace Gibson, the director of government relations at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, said in an interview.

Another co-author of the analysis, Shaina Goodman who is also the director for reproductive health and rights at the National Partnership for Women & Families said, “Anyone who is capable of getting pregnant at some point may need abortion care."

Texas, Florida, and Arizona are home to the majority of Latinas who reside in states that forbid or restrict abortion.

13 states, mostly in the South and the Midwest, were able to enact abortion bans as a result of Roe's repeal.

Six states have restricted or are looking to restrict access to abortions, and pending bans could go into effect in seven states later in the year.

The current and upcoming abortion restrictions in the 26 states will affect over 3.1 million Latinas who are already mothers. Of them, 28% have young children under the age of 3.

The analysis found that nearly 3 million Latinas in the 26 states where efforts are underway to make abortion inaccessible were “economically insecure” or living in families below 200% of the federal poverty line.

Goodman said that data showed moms with young kids were the ones who were harmed by the bans.

Research shows that mothers who are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies and their children are four times more likely to live below the federal poverty line, according to a study.