WHAT IF.
WOMEN LOSE THE RIGHT TO SAFE AND LEGAL ABORTION?

What will happen if Roe v. Wade is overturned and abortion is no longer legal in many states?

Women will die from back-alley illegal abortions. Before Roe, botched, illegal abortions were the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths, and hospital wards were forced to accommodate women suffering from infections and perforations of the uterus due to self-induced or botched abortions. These deaths claimed the lives of as many as 5,000 women per year, although this number is grossly underestimated because illegal abortions were not accurately reported by hospitals who wanted to protect victims from social stigmatization and to avoid legal consequences.

Women will be forced to travel overseas or to different states where abortion is legal, incurring financial debt and even risking their lives. Before Roe, nearly 350,000 women traveled to New York over the course of 1970-1973 because it was one of the few states where abortion was legal. If women are forced to travel long geographic distances, they will have to obtain abortions further along in their pregnancies when there is a higher risk of medical complications. Women who cannot afford to travel to obtain an abortion will be placed in a dangerous position and may resort to illegal and unsafe abortions.

Any doctor who performs abortion illegally would be prosecuted and jailed. Before Roe, many doctors risked arrest and incarceration to save women from injuring or killing themselves while in need of abortion.

FDA Approval for Mifepristone could be immediately repealed and further research on the use of Mifepristone for treating ovarian and breast cancers, endometriosis, and fibroid and brain tumors would cease.