The seating of Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court may foretell the end of Roe vs. Wade. The Supreme Court has steadily eroded choice rights over the last 30 years, and that erosion may soon become a landslide of restrictions. Roe may eventually fall. Women are already seeking ways to control their bodies in a world where abortion is illegal. According to a number of recent Google search analyses, many are now searching for terms such as “self-induced abortion” and “DIY abortion.”
Self-Induced Abortion: A Surge in Google Searches
As attacks on abortion have grown more intense, women have sought new options for controlling their bodies. A 2018 Guttmacher survey found more than 200,000 Google searches related to self-induced abortion. Earlier research has shown that, when state abortion regulations increase, so too do women’s searches for self-induced abortion.
In 2015, the state with the most self-induced abortion searches was also the state with the most restrictive abortion legislation—Mississippi. A Good Morning America analysis of searches related to home abortions found a sharp increase from 2013 to 2018, with more searches concentrated in states with restrictive abortion regulations.
The reason women are searching for self-induced abortions is clear: they’d rather do it themselves than give up their right to abortion.
Banning Abortion Doesn’t Stop Abortion. It Just Makes it Less Safe.
State abortion clinics are already under attack. They’re forced to lie to women about abortion complications, subject women to long waiting periods, and demand that women look at images of their fetuses on an ultrasound machine. Seven states now have just one abortion clinic, forcing women to travel long distances to undergo a procedure that the Supreme Court has said is a Constitutional right.
Abortion clinics in Texas face an especially onerous climate. Research on how women in Texas have been affected hints at what things will be like if choice ends nationwide. Between 100,000 and 240,000 Texas women have attempted do-it-yourself abortions—and that’s in a state where abortion remains technically legal.
Research from nations in which abortion is banned paint a similar picture. In Latin American countries that ban abortion, the abortion rate is higher than in the U.S. Over half a million illegal abortions are performed each year in Argentina.
Women have always been willing to risk their lives to control their bodies and their fates. Banning abortion won’t end the practice. It will just make it less safe. Some women will attempt to perform their own abortions, with potentially deadly results.
How Many Women Will Republican Abortion Regulations Kill?
The mainstream anti-choice movement won’t admit that they think women should be punished for abortions. That will change as they gain more power. Anti-choice politics have always been about punishing women for having sex. Occasionally, one of them steps out of line and tells people what they really think. Former National Review writer Kevin Williamson said women who have abortions should be hanged. Donald Trump slipped and revealed that he thinks women should be punished for abortion.
Republicans know that women will continue to seek abortions even when Roe dies. They can’t wait to punish them.
Before Roe vs. Wade, illegal abortion accounted for 17% of all deaths due to pregnancy. Today, almost no one dies from abortion. Republicans know this, and know women will die. They’re unconcerned. Death, after all, is a fair penalty for having sex.
Worldwide, about 50,000 women die each year from unsafe abortion. The U.S. has the worst maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and Republicans have steadfastly opposed any policy that could fix this. Women will die thanks to Republicans, and they’ll take their fetuses with them.
It’s never been about life.