If US Abortion Rights Are Overturned... NYT: Vulnerable Women Face the Most Hardship

No Cost Means No Medical Tourism
Possibility of Reliance on Chemical Drugs
"Illegal Pill Trade Likely to Flourish Without Prescription"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Reports have emerged that the U.S. Supreme Court is set to overturn the 'Roe v. Wade' precedent guaranteeing women's abortion rights, raising concerns that vulnerable women will face the greatest hardships if the precedent is indeed overturned.

On the 2nd (local time), The New York Times (NYT) described the potential overturning of the precedent as "turning back the clock by half a century" and forecasted the possible scenarios in American society going forward.

NYT predicted that legal abortions would sharply decline among low-income women in Midwestern and Southern states, many of which are Republican-leaning, but some women would travel to Democratic-leaning states where abortion remains legal for so-called "abortion tourism."

As a result, vulnerable women were identified as those who would suffer the most in states where abortion is banned, as they would be unable to afford the costs of traveling for abortion procedures. NYT listed Black women, Latinas, teenagers, the uninsured, and undocumented immigrants as vulnerable groups.

Furthermore, NYT forecasted that American society would reflect the era before the precedent was established. Before the Roe v. Wade ruling, only four states recognized abortion rights, and 13 states allowed abortion for health reasons. Even then, women who could afford the procedure had to travel to states where abortion was permitted, NYT explained. Many women who could not afford the procedure relied on chemical drugs or unskilled abortion providers to attempt abortions, and there are concerns that such situations could recur if the precedent is overturned.

Additionally, in the early 1960s, hospitals in Cook County, Chicago, faced about 4,000 women annually who were treated for life-threatening complications from illegal abortions. Unlike then, it has become easier to order abortion pills online through black markets that allow termination up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, so NYT pointed out that the illegal trade of abortion pills without a doctor's prescription could become rampant.

Earlier, the U.S. political news outlet Politico reported that the Supreme Court is seriously considering overturning the abortion rights precedent known as 'Roe v. Wade' by a majority opinion. Since the composition of the Supreme Court shifted to a conservative majority during former President Trump's administration, it is expected that the nearly 50-year-old constitutional precedent upholding abortion rights since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision will be reversed.

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