The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Abortion is health care. Without it, further inequity for women and people who can get pregnant is a guarantee. That is YWCA Southern Arizona’s position, and that’s why YWCA is supporting the Arizona Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative.
Getting pregnant is a risky proposition, especially in the U.S., with one of the highest rates of maternal mortality among high-income nations. While this is a sobering fact by itself, it’s even worse for Black women, who are up to four times more likely than white women to die from a pregnancy-related cause.
Serious health risks increased by carrying a pregnancy include high blood pressure and gestational diabetes, common complications often causing lifelong impacts that may significantly shorten a woman’s lifespan. Each person should have the option to willingly sign up for these potentially lifelong impacts, instead of being legally required to put their health, and even lives, at risk upon becoming pregnant.
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Pregnancy also has a significant impact on economic and educational outcomes for women in the U.S. Since Roe, women’s participation in higher education and the workforce has seen steady gains. “Research makes clear that there is a connection between abortion access and educational attainment. A 2019 report published by the Center on the Economics of Reproductive Health found that abortion access led to significant increases in high school graduation, college entrance, and labor force participation, particularly among Black women,” as the YWCA USA and other organizations argued in the Mississippi abortion case the Supreme Court is considering. Access to abortion is not just an issue of gender equity but of racial equity as well.
In contrast, women denied abortions were more likely to report struggling to pay for food and basic necessities, a problem compounded by lack of access to affordable child care, which results in leaving school, switching to part-time work, or taking leaves of absence that position women well behind their peers in earning potential — missing a year of work results in an average 39% loss in income, on top of the already-existing gender pay gap, which is even larger for women of color. The denial of abortion care results in poverty and inequitable access to opportunity. If we truly care about equity, legal abortion is necessary, and no woman must be forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term.
However, imagine for a moment a world in which no pregnancy was unwanted or accidental. Here are just a few reasons why even in that world, abortion is a necessary part of reproductive health care:
10%-15% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, making this an incredibly common occurrence. It is also indistinguishable from a medication-induced abortion. If abortion is illegal, doctors would hesitate to provide the care necessary to women experiencing miscarriages, potentially putting their lives in danger (we are already seeing this happen in Alabama).
An ectopic pregnancy, which begins to grow into a fetus while it’s still in the fallopian tube or abdominal cavity, threatens the life of the person carrying it, making abortion the only safe treatment.
20% of all pregnancies will experience a potentially serious complication. Without legal abortion, some doctors will refuse patients care or wait too long to decide if a woman’s life is threatened enough to eliminate the risk of liability, resulting in an even higher rate of maternal mortality in the U.S.
Imagine finding out that a wanted pregnancy was not viable in a world without legal abortion. You’d be forced to carry it to term, waiting long months, incurring all the physical risks of pregnancy, and experiencing untold grief and trauma before being able to try again.
An Arizona without legal abortion is quite simply an Arizona in which it is not safe to have a uterus or carry a pregnancy. YWCA’s mission is eliminating racism and empowering women. In order to do either, we have to continue working to expand abortion access, not ban it.
If you are interested in supporting the the Arizona Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, the YWCA Southern Arizona is hosting a drive-up petition signing from 7 to 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 2, at the YWCA’s main campus at 525 N. Bonita Avenue in Tucson.
Lara Ruggles
Lara Ruggles is a singer-songwriter and electronic music producer performing as Sharkk Heartt and working as director of development and marketing at YWCA Southern Arizona. Ruggles also serves on the board of the National Independent Venue Association and chairs NIVA’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) committee. She lives in Tucson.