When women have control over the timing of having children, the children benefit

While there is significant research on the physical and emotional impacts of abortion, there is little known about the effects of receiving or being denied an abortion on children. New research from ANSIRH is the first known US study to examine the association of access to abortion with outcomes for children, observing both children born from pregnancies for which the woman was denied an abortion and children born from subsequent pregnancies to women who received an abortion.

Researchers examined perinatal health, child health, child development, maternal bonding, and socioeconomic and household structure. Women who were denied an abortion had children who experienced significantly poorer maternal bonding: 9 percent met the threshold for poor bonding, compared to only 3 percent of children born subsequently to women who received an abortion.

Children born to women who were denied abortions lived in households with incomes far lower than subsequent children of women who received abortions (101% of the Federal Poverty Level compared to 132%). Their mothers were much more likely to report that they had insufficient money to cover basic living needs such as food, housing and transportation.