Thread by @WIRED

Eight US states now have extreme abortion bans on the books, and if history is a guide, these bans will lead to more women and babies getting sick, being poor, and dying. Here’s why 1/ wired.trib.al/qQccdt6

States with the most restrictions on abortion access are already those with the *highest* rates of maternal and infant mortality. While the connection isn't direct, it's not a coincidence 2/ wired.trib.al/qQccdt6

Beginning in the early 2000s, the 'Turnaway Study' compared what happened to women who wanted an abortion vs those who weren't able to get one. The first thing they found: Mental health concerns for women who wanted abortions and got them were unfounded 3/ wired.trib.al/qQccdt6

Half of the women in the study had incomes below the federal poverty line, and those who were turned away were more likely to be poor six months after their clinic visit—and still poor 4 years later. Poverty is a prime risk factor for health problems 4/ wired.trib.al/qQccdt6

Other countries have tried banning abortion—with ghastly results. When Romania banned abortions and contraception, deaths from complications resulting from attempted, illegal abortions increased to 10x that of the rest of Europe—about 500 women a year 5/ wired.trib.al/qQccdt6

The converse of this scenario took place in Nepal in 2002. When it legalized abortion, 1,200 clinicians learned to provide them and 500,000 women got them. Not only did maternal mortality rate fall, so did the number of serious complications 6/ wired.trib.al/qQccdt6

But even if abortion gets banned in the US again, things might not be as bad as Romania—or even the last time it was illegal in the US. New drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, might make dangerous surgical improvisations less common 7/ wired.trib.al/qQccdt6

Doctors working via telemedicine might be able to prescribe the medications, or they might be obtainable on the internet.

It's a grim silver lining, but online pills might make the next chapter of abortion history better than the last 8/ wired.trib.al/qQccdt6