The central paradox of the abortion debate is that the red states racing to outlaw or severely limit the procedure may be the places least prepared to deal with the practical consequences of the new restrictions. And that, experts project, could mean significantly more infant and maternal deaths and childhood poverty in states that, as a group, already rank at the bottom on those critical outcomes for kids and families.
New research shows that the states banning abortion could see up to hundreds of thousands of new births each year, most of them unplanned, and concentrated among lower-income families already facing the greatest financial and health care challenges. …
Especially frustrating for social scientists is that while the majority opinion from Justice Samuel Alito overturning Roe v. Wade reached so deeply into history that it cited “Henry de Bracton’s 13th-century treatise” on abortion, the ruling said nothing about the real-world effects today of allowing states to ban or severely restrict the practice. CONTINUED
Ronald Brownstein, CNN
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