As tension mounts around the flood of state abortion bans, pro-choice activists continue to spotlight the sobering consequences of restricting reproductive care. And now a new study, conducted by the University of California, San Francisco, and funded by foundations that support pro-choice work, suggests that women who are denied access to abortion are more likely to develop long-term health problems.
Tracking the self-reported physical health of about 900 women who sought abortions across the U.S. between 2008 and 2010, the research found that women whose requests were denied reported higher rates of chronic diseases, persistent pain, and poor overall health five years later. The study included women who were close to or slightly beyond the gestational limit for performing abortions (which differs by state) and focused on those who wanted abortions, since those who choose to have a baby tend to be healthier and wealthier.
“There’s a good deal of research that shows, in the short term, having an abortion is much safer than childbirth, but there isn’t much research over the long-term,” Lauren Ralph, study coauthor and an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, tells Time. “Our study demonstrates that having an abortion is not detrimental to women’s health but being denied access to a wanted one likely is.”
As part of their investigation, researchers also referenced data from the Turnaway Study, which not only highlights the long-term health issues associated with denying women access to abortion but the socioeconomic effects as well. The precursory study found that women who were unable to terminate an unwanted pregnancy were four times as likely to be below the federal poverty level and three times as likely to be unemployed.
More and more data underlines the disturbing ripple effects of restricting a woman’s right to choose, proving the inevitable impact—on women’s health and overall well-being—of these near-total bans on abortion.