What Overturning Roe v. Wade Means for Teens

Accidental pregnancy is a huge issue for teenagers across the states. In 2019, according to the CDC as reported by the New York Times, 9% of abortion patients were under 20. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, conservative states will enact stricter legislation that compels more teens to carry to term. Young women should not be forced into an unwanted pregnancy, at a critical point in their lives when they should be focused on their education.

Although teen pregnancies have been on the decline since 1991, it is possible that rates of teen pregnancy would increase if Roe v. Wade gets overturned. What would happen if more teens cannot access legal and safe abortions, and have to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term? 

Most of the time, teen moms do not graduate from high school after giving birth. Youth.gov provides statistics on educational attainment of teen parents. Youth.gov states, “By age 22, only around 50 percent of teen mothers have received a high school diploma and only 30 percent have earned a General Education Development (GED) certificate, whereas 90 percent of women who did not give birth during adolescence receive a high school diploma.” The amount of young moms who go on to receive higher education is even lower: only 10% of teen mothers go on to complete college. 

Not only does becoming a parent impact teens’ educational trajectories, it is also very expensive. Most teenagers are not financially independent and can not provide for their child alone, causing them to go into debt. Their lack of a high school diploma or college degree can also affect their future job prospects and earnings. According to Constance Shehan, a professor of sociology and women’s studies at the University of Florida, “Educational achievement, in turn, affects the lifetime income of teen mothers. Two-thirds of families started by teens are poor, and nearly 1 in 4 will depend on welfare within three years of a child’s birth.”

Finally, restricting young women from getting abortions will greatly impact their mental health. Victims of sexual assault or rape who become pregnant and are forced to give birth often suffer from severe financial and emotional stress and from higher rates of depression, PTSD, and self-harm. Children who are born to teenage mothers also tend to experience extensive issues as a child and young adult. Some of these include “higher rates of foster care placement; being incarcerated at some time during adolescence; having lower school achievement and dropout of high school, and teen pregnancy” (Youth.gov).  

While these outcomes are not universal for all teenage parents and the children born to them, preventing some of these issues starts with proper sex education, access to contraceptives, and access to safe abortions. To protect ourselves and our community, teenage activists should stand up for Roe v. Wade and get involved in advocacy.

Sources:

https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/sex-education/sex-education-laws-and-state-attacks

https://youth.gov/youth-topics/pregnancy-prevention/risk-and-protective-factors#:~:text=Additional%20risk%20factors%20include%20being,%2C%20and%20low%20self%2Desteem.&text=Lastly%2C%20a%20teen's%20race%20and,risk%20factor%20for%20teen%20pregnancy.

https://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/about/index.htm#:~:text=The%20US%20teen%20birth%20rate,decrease%20of%204%25%20from%202018.

https://youth.gov/youth-topics/pregnancy-prevention/adverse-effects-teen-pregnancy

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/14/upshot/who-gets-abortions-in-america.html

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/918068#vp_2

https://theconversation.com/roe-v-wade-gave-american-women-a-choice-about-having-children-heres-how-that-changed-their-lives-161148