How Low-Income Women Perform Their Own Abortions

Having a low income often means going without. At best, without luxuries. At worst, without necessities like food and utilities. For many poor women, an abortion is a necessity. About 75 percent of women who get them say they can't afford a child.

ABC News reported recently that low-income women (often synonymous with "uninsured women") are increasingly considering abortions to be DIY procedures. It's both desperate and dangerous. As Alex DiBranco wrote on the Women's Rights blog, "Abortion is not like a crafts project."

One profiled woman named Kelly, a part-time hairdresser, was inducing her own abortion by practically overdosing on misoprostol, a drug approved by the FDA for treating stomach ulcers. She chose a medical procedure over a surgical one because it was cheaper, but the payoff is a lengthier, more nerve-wracking and arguably more painful ordeal. Using the drug is most often considered an option among Hispanic woman, according to ABC News, since it makes abortion look instead like a miscarriage. (It also has something to do with the fact that 57 percent of Hispanics of reproductive age are uninsured.)

The recent health care reform act will expand Americans' access to needed care, but because of political concerns about federal funds, or "taxpayer dollars," abortion procedures will not be covered by Medicaid or insurance exchanges. NARAL Pro-Choice president Kate Michelman said in July, "We are going to have a Roe v Wade legal moment with poor women before we can ever get [rights to terminate a pregnancy] back." It's a sentiment that was echoed by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who said that same month that unless something changes, wealthy women will always have access to abortions, legal or not, while poor women will always face restrictions, legal or not.

When you consider abortion for what it is — a legal, safe, effective and exceedingly common medical procedure (in 2005, the last year for which data is available, there were 1.2 million abortions performed in the United States) — it's hard to believe just how difficult it is to access for poor women, including many immigrants and women of color.

But at around $430 for an abortion during the first trimester and $1,260 in the second, poor women aren't going to be able to pay out of pocket for an abortion. Barring religious concerns, I'm surprised more social and fiscal conservatives aren't willing to finance the procedure. Pay $430 one time now, or pay $430 each month in TANF payments to an unprepared mother and her infant.

Photo credit: Viewoftheworld