For People With Disabilities, Losing Abortion Access Can Be a Matter of Life or Death
Synopsis
Jamie Ducharme’s reporting for TIME Magazine portrays how limiting abortion access for disabled people can have life-threatening consequences. For Flora Ellis, an Oklahoman, a pregnancy could cause her organs to rupture because of a connective tissue disorder. And for so many other disabled people, pregnancy can come with health consequences that may be difficult to anticipate.
With abortion bans in place across the country, disabled people are at increased risk of having life-saving abortion care out of reach. Transportation to and from abortion clinics, abortion procedures themselves, and pregnancy can be particularly taxing to disabled people. As the community has made clear, the fight against abortion bans is also a fight for disabled people’s health and well-being.
Policies that restrict access to abortion will drastically exacerbate threats to the autonomy, health, and overall well-being of disabled people.
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