According to a recently published survey by the Center for American Progress (CAP), abortion bans and restrictions have created far more health care disparities for LGBTQ+ people than non-LGBTQ+ people.
The survey examined a sample of around 3,300 people, about half of whom identified as LGBTQ+ and the other half as non-LGBTQ+. The goal was to determine the far-reaching effects of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on the LGBTQ+ community.
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The study found that LGBTQ+ people were twice as likely to struggle with finding health care providers if their clinic shuts down. It is important to note that clinics providing abortion services, including Planned Parenthood, provide various other services for the LGBTQ+ community, such as gender-affirming treatment and testing for HIV. Since the repealing of Roe v. Wade, dozens of health care establishments that provide abortions among other services across the U.S. closed, reducing options for many transgender people who rely on them for HRT and LGBTQ+ people in general who face discrimination from healthcare providers.
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“We know that LGBT folks are more likely to avoid going to the doctor, both for preventative care like breast cancer screenings and needed care, like if they break an ankle,” Caleb Smith, author of the report, told The Huffpost. “They’re less likely to go both because of cost issues and … because they can’t find a provider that is treating them with basic dignity and respect. And we’re not just talking about gender-affirming care, we’re talking about all forms of medical care.”
Because LGBTQ+ people face discrimination in the healthcare industry, accessing abortion services is more difficult. LGBTQ+ people are more likely to travel out of state, with LGBTQ+ people of color and LGBTQ+ people with disabilities being more likely to do so.
It is worth noting that similar surveys have been conducted in the past on how restrictions on abortion access have affected LGBTQ+ people. In 2022, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) conducted a similar survey, which also factored in pregnancies resulting from partner violence and non-consensual encounters. HRC found that over a third of lesbian women seeking abortion had experienced some form of physical or sexual abuse from the individual who got them pregnant.
In comparison, less than 2% of heterosexual women in this survey had experienced sexual abuse from the person who got them pregnant, and only 3.6% experienced physical abuse.
Another important takeaway of the CAP report is that 11% of LGBTQ+ people have decided against having children, citing the abortion ban, compared to 2% of non-LGBTQ+ people. According to the survey, the reason stems from fear of being denied emergency reproductive care, as research suggests abortion bans have caused an increase in the mortality rate of pregnant people, specifically those in marginalized communities with less access to healthcare.
“This is a really important data point to show that actually, bans on abortion are decreasing the desire for folks to have families,” Smith said. “And people who support bans on abortion are trying to paint these [policies] as pro-family, and this is a really, really clear indicator that the opposite is actually true.”
It is no surprise that abortion bans have negative effects on the LGBTQ+ community, as many prominent pro-life groups and advocates tend to also have ties with anti-LGBTQ+ organizations, such as Pro-Life advocate Catherine Glenn Foster of the AUL, who is known to have ties with the hate group the Alliance Defending Freedom.
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