How the Texas Heartbeat Bill Will Affect Low-Income Women of Color Across the U.S.: A Commentary
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65539/ghx6t411Keywords:
abortion, reproductive health, health policy, health disparities, women's health, reproductive justiceAbstract
Governor Greg Abbott of Texas signed a law in May 2021 that will prohibit healthcare providers from performing abortion services after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. With this, Texas has joined several other states, mostly concentrated in the South and Midwest, that ban abortions after approximately six weeks. In this commentary, we discuss how the loss of access to abortion in the heavily populated, diverse state of Texas will overwhelmingly affect low-income individuals and women of color. We also seek to explain how this law is part of a larger agenda that will have a greater impact on all fifty states. Ultimately, we aim to demonstrate how laws aimed at restricting access to abortion will disproportionately affect Black, Hispanic, and low-income women, exacerbating racial health disparities already faced by marginalized groups.
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Copyright (c) 2022 Natalia Eugene, Anna Kheyfets, Mackenzie Bennett (Author)
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