When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the majority of justices decided that abortion rights should be left up to individual states. Two years later, thousands of Americans in parts of the US with strict abortion bans decide to leave those states, new research shows.
After the Dobbs decision, the 13 states with strict abortion bans, from Alabama to West Virginia, collectively lost a net of 36,000 residents per quarter, meaning the difference between the number of people leaving the states and the number of people migrating in, according to the analysis of economists. at the Georgia Institute of Technology and The College of Wooster and published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The analysis, based on change-of-address data from the US Postal Service, shows that the state impact is greater among single-person households, which could indicate that younger people are moving out of states that ban abortion at a higher rate. than families. That could be due to the greater challenges families face in trying to move, given the need to change schools or disrupt careers for parents.
A problem for states that ban abortion?
While access to abortion is often seen as a cultural or religious issue, it also has far-reaching economic consequences, both for individuals and society as a whole. For example, the financial toll on women without access to abortion services has been well documented with the Turnaround Study find that those who were denied the procedure were more likely to have financial problems and were more likely to rely on government assistance such as food stamps.
The new research indicates that states with abortion bans could face long-term economic consequences if they lose significant numbers of residents — especially younger workers who are typically vital to a state’s workforce.
“In terms of the implications for state economies, our results suggest that employers in states where bans are in place may face challenges attracting and retaining workers, especially younger workers, which could impact the economic growth and development,” said Daniel L. researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dench, Jason M. Lindo and Kelly Lifchez and Jancy Ling Liu of The College of Wooster, wrote in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.
The study did not reveal whether those who left states with abortion bans were men or women, or where they ended up, including in states that have protected abortion. But the impact is so great that states that ban abortion could lose nearly 1% of their population over a five-year period, the researchers said.
Abortion bans and a weak safety net
In addition, many states with strict abortion bans are failing to provide adequate safety nets, an Associated Press analysis shows. These range from difficulties accessing programs such as food stamps to a lack of access to doctors due to maternal care shortages.
Republican state leaders in Tennessee — one of 13 states with a total abortion ban — say they are strengthening services for families. For example, Tennessee increased Medicaid coverage for mothers in 2022 from 60 days postpartum to one year, allowing 3,000 additional mothers to benefit from the program annually.
But Tennessee fared poorly in enrollment in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, Medicaid, and in having adequate maternal care and paid family and medical leave requirements, according to an October study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Other states with abortion bans, including Alabama, Georgia and Missouri, also scored poorly on a number of measures, the analysis found.
Women with young children in states where abortion is banned or limited to the first weeks of pregnancy say it can be difficult to get social benefits, according to a survey by health policy research organization KFF. Nearly half said it is difficult for women in their state to get food stamps, compared with 3 in 10 in states where abortion is widely available.
“People who claim to be pro-life, who advocated for this abortion ban, often suggest that these policies are intended to protect children, women and families,” said Dr. Nigel Madden, lead author of the study. But the weakness of the safety net shows “the hypocrisy of that argument.”
Meanwhile, many younger Americans are paying attention to a state’s access to reproductive care. In a 2022 Axios poll, about 6 in 10 people ages 18 to 29 said a state’s abortion laws would influence their decision about where to live, from “somewhat” to “a lot.”
Certainly, there are many reasons why people choose to move from a particular state, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and College of Wooster noted. “And states that ban abortion are different from states that protect or enforce abortion access in ways other than their abortion policies,” she added.
But a lack of access to reproductive choices, social services and medical care may make abortion-strict states less attractive to some residents, especially young Americans, the study concluded.
contributed to this report.
