In November, voters in six states are set to decide on the legality of abortion—a trend that has increased since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, allowing state bans on abortion.
But abortion access isn’t just a political issue—it’s a critical aspect of reproductive health care. One recent study estimates that restricting abortion increases U.S. maternal mortality risks by 24 percent for women overall and by 39 percent for Black women.
Access to medications such as mifepristone and misoprostol, which are used in combination to end a pregnancy, is under fire. While they are effective within the first ten weeks, they are also crucial for managing miscarriages, postpartum hemorrhaging, and even Type 2 diabetes in women. Laws like a recent bill in Louisiana that reclassifies these drugs as dangerous controlled substances threaten women’s health.
Unfortunately, the discussion of abortion too often focuses on the issue as a political opinion rather than a form of healthcare. While 63 percent of U.S. adults believe abortion should be legal in most cases, it has been unclear how the American public understands the connection between abortion access and women’s health.
Our research at the Newcomb Institute, in partnership with NORC (formerly the National Opinion Research Center) at the University of Chicago, sought to change that by surveying more than 3,300 people across the United States.
We learned that 58 percent of U.S. adults—including 64 percent of women and 52 percent of men—agree that abortion access is important for women’s health. Our research found that overall, liberals, people with college degrees, and residents of urban areas are all more likely to believe abortion access is important for women’s health. Even in Mississippi, however, 52 percent of women agree on its importance.
Unlike the legality of abortion, which is heavily debated on moral or religious grounds, the belief that abortion is important for women’s health is grounded in scientific evidence. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recognizes abortion as health care.
And herein lies the challenge: Approximately two in every five people in the United States do not recognize abortion access as a health issue. And men, a group disproportionately represented in legislative and judicial decision-making, are less likely than women to recognize this.
The interpretation of abortion as purely political impedes public discourse and education. It keeps us in a place where facts are viewed as subjective, which benefits neither women’s health nor our political environment. We must shift this narrative and start emphasizing abortion more clearly as a women’s health issue based on scientific fact.
Organizations such as the Guttmacher Institute, Center for American Progress, Center for Reproductive Rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union raise awareness that abortion is essential health care while pushing to increase abortion access through various approaches. But efforts to educate lawmakers and the public on this issue remain limited. In contrast, anti-abortion advocates are actively seeking to delegitimize abortion as health care.
To combat misinformation and political rhetoric, it is crucial to educate the public about the various types of abortion and related care through community outreach, media campaigns, and changing the ways our leaders talk about abortion. Evidence-based policies will be effective only if we ensure government officials and voters are equipped with accurate information.
This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.