What happens when women are denied abortions? Economic distress, research shows.

Women who are denied abortions are more likely to suffer from financial problems and rely on government aid programs like food stamps and welfare, according to a study that tracked about 1,000 women who sought abortions over a span of several years.

The new research comes as abortion care could be banned in more than two dozen states if the Supreme Court strikes down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that codified abortion access, as indicated by the leak of a draft majority opinion. 

Economists have tracked the impact of abortion rights and birth control on women's employment and financial outcomes, finding that access to reproductive care helped women achieve huge educational and workplace gains. But not much research has examined the flip side: the impact on women of being turned away from the abortion care they seek and who, as a consequence, give birth.