Women of color most affected by abortion reversal
HOUSTON - With the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, wealth could now largely determine who can get an abortion.
FOX 26 spoke with a professor of sociology at the University of Houston researching this very topic and spoke with her on Friday evening.
"Here in Houston, the clinics that would be closest to us are outside of St. Louis in southeastern Illinois, in Colorado or in New Mexico, so a woman would have more than a days drive or not a short flight to seek an abortion, and then will have to stay overnight in the city that she travels to in order to receive the healthcare that was otherwise available here in our city," said Sheila Katz, associate professor of sociology at U of H. "Many women who seek abortion are in unhealthy relationships and possibly they put their lives at greater risk by staying in those unhealthy relationships in order to have the resources to seek the care."
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She went on to say, "Women will still get abortions. Women will do whatever they can and to travel to places to access abortion. What is going to happen is that women that have money and the ability to coordinate the logistics will get abortions. The women who will not be able to access safe affordable healthcare are the women who are already disadvantaged in our society."
When we asked her what this would mean for women without means to get an abortion legally, Katz said, "We are going to see women die. We are going to see women to attempt to access an abortion or medication that they think will induce an abortion and will have women’s mortality rates increase and that is very scary."