VeryWellMind: The Overturn of Roe v. Wade Will Have Major Consequences For Mental Health

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court made the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. A woman or birthing person's right to an abortion is no longer protected under federal law, and the effects of this ruling will have widespread consequences.

Abortion has been the law of the land since the 1973 landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. Yet in recent years, the fight to overturn it and restrict abortions in individual states has gained traction.

There are so many reasons why limiting or entirely banning abortions is dangerous, however, it is first critical to say that even if none of these reasons existed, restricting abortion would still be fundamentally wrong. The government should never have the power to force a person to carry a pregnancy to term.

The Dangers of Abortion Bans

The physical harms of restricting abortion include needing to stay in contact with an abuser due to child visitation rights or the inability to support a child on your own. There are also the general dangers every pregnancy can bring, from hemorrhage to death.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, death from pregnancy is even more prevalent for Black people, who have a mortality rate of 2.9 times more than white people.

In addition to the physical risks, forced pregnancy seriously threatens someone’s mental health.

Losing bodily autonomy is one of many issues that can hurt a person’s well-being.

“For those denied an abortion, there could also be lasting negative mental health effects—anxiety, depression, and more—due to other factors, like economic hardship, that result from an unwanted pregnancy. And this will not only affect those giving birth, but the mental health of these children,” says Dr. Kathryn Smerling, a psychotherapist with her own private practice.

Abortion Is No Longer Protected In The United States

Prior to the decision’s release, states had already begun restricting access to abortion. However, as Frick explains, the Supreme Court overturning these critical rights will not lead to a clear awareness of what will come next.

With states determining abortion rights, people will have additional anxiety about how severe the restrictions will be in their home state.

People may also experience numbness or disconnection, feelings known as dissociation, adds Frick.

“This often happens when the emotion associated with something is too great—our brains put ourselves in this state to try to protect us from the effects of high emotion,” she says.

Dickman emphasizes that this decision will disproportionately impact marginalized people, such as LGBTQ+ and gender-diverse people, anyone living in poverty, people of color, and immigrants, to name only a few of those affected.

Dickman stresses the importance of including everyone who can get pregnant in this discussion instead of only focusing on straight, cisgender women.

“Trans and nonbinary people already face a tremendous amount of medical gatekeeping that prevents them from receiving necessary interventions, let alone in an affirming and supportive environment.

Abortion is a fundamental right, and removing it as an option for even a single American is abominable and may have deadly physical or mental repercussions. The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade does nothing but hurt the people it should be protecting.

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