Abortion Care and Intersectionality
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TLDR: Abortion care access and intersectionality
People who have abortions are not a monolith. Public notions of who needs and who has abortions have impacted how policy is shaped and contributes to stigma. Abortion care must be accessible to anyone who wants one, and it is vital that abortion care advocacy is expansive, inclusive, and intersectional.
FACT: Abortion bans disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, who are also often explicitly targeted by anti-abortion activists.
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Communications Psychology - Investigating White Americans’ Mental Images of Who Has Abortions and Its Impact on Attitudes Toward Abortion Policies
New England Journal of Medicine - Abortion Access as a Racial Justice Issue
American Psychology Association - Abortion bans cause outsized harm for people of color
Obstetrics & Gynecology - Racism and the Reproductive Health Experiences of U.S.-Born Black Women
Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters - Understanding the role of race in abortion stigma in the United States: a systematic scoping review
Guttmacher Institute - Inequity in US Abortion Rights and Access: The End of Roe Is Deepening Existing Divides
National Partnership for Women and Families - State Abortion Bans Harm More Than 15 Million Women of Color
The Century Foundation - The Intersection of Abortion Access and Black Maternal Health
FACT: People of all sexualities and gender identities regularly access abortion care. Research from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation shows that queer people are more likely to have had abortions than their straight, cisgender counterparts.
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BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health - Understanding the experiences and needs of LGBTIQA+ individuals when accessing abortion care and pregnancy options counselling: a scoping review
Center for American Progress - New Survey Shows Abortion Bans’ Unique and Chilling Impact on LGBTQI+ People
Guttmacher Institute - As Many as 16% of People Having Abortions Do Not Identify as Heterosexual Women
State Court Report -Abortion Rights and Transgender Rights Are Intertwined
PPFA - Building Affirming Relationships With Trans and Gender-Expansive Patients
GLAAD - Media Guide: Abortion As An LGBTQ Issue
Center for Reproductive Rights - Abortion, Gender-Affirming Care, and the Fourteenth Amendment
FACT: Barriers to abortion access often disproportionately impact disabled people, who already face a number of difficulties navigating the medical system. Additionally, abortion advocacy can further stigmatize disability by leaning on ableist tropes.
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Center for American Progress - Disability Reproductive Equity Agenda: Protecting the Reproductive Rights of Disabled People in 2025 and Beyond
National Women’s Law Center - Abortion Bans Are Undermining Disabled People’s Decision-Making and Autonomy
National Health Law Program - Why Medicaid Abortion Coverage is a Disability Equity Imperative
Women’s Health - Centering disability visibility in reproductive health care: Dismantling barriers to achieve reproductive equity
The Century Foundation - Why Connecting Disability Justice and Reproductive Justice Matters
FACT: Young people are able to make decisions about unwanted pregnancies, and yet they are often the target of anti-abortion legislation that create barriers to accessing abortion care. Most states required parent or guardian permission for patients under 18 to receive abortion care.
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If/When/How - Mandating Parental Notice for Abortion Causes Harm to Young People
Guttmacher Institute - Minors’ Access to Abortion Care
Guttmacher Institute - New Analysis Sheds Light on the Unique Barriers US Adolescents Face in Obtaining Abortion Care
ANSIRH - How abortion bans are impacting young people
Women’s Health - Judicial bypass for minors post-Dobbs
FACT: Abortion bans and restrictions have particularly devastating effects on incarcerated people, who cannot travel out of state or self-manage their abortion. Everyone deserves abortion regardless of their experiences with the carceral system.
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Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health - “I mean, I didn't really have a choice of anything:” How incarceration influences abortion decision-making and precludes access in the United States
The Marshall Project - Even Where Abortion Is Legal, People in Jail Face Huge Barriers
The Nation - Abortion Denied: Reproductive Injustice Behind Bars
National University-Based Collaborative on Justice-Involved Women & Children - Abortion Access for Incarcerated People in the U.S.
Obstetrics & Gynecology - Abortion Access for Incarcerated People: Incidence of Abortion and Policies at U.S. Prisons and Jails
Health and Human Rights - Post-Roe and Women Under Carceral Surveillance
Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health - Incarcerated and Pregnancy in Post-Roe America