In just three years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, nearly half of U.S. states have restricted access to abortion care. So far, a dozen states have banned abortions completely and several others have made obtaining reproductive health care nearly impossible.
The cost of abortion bans is steep: Parents forced to carry pregnancies to term can experience severe health consequences, financial strain, and emotional trauma for years. Studies additionally show that these laws have resulted in increased maternal and infant mortality rates.
The effects of bans and restrictions on reproductive care are even more significant among marginalized communities. New survey findings from the Center for American Progress’ 2024 LGBTQI+ Community Survey show that LGBTQI+ communities experience disproportionate harm due to bans on reproductive and abortion care compared with the general population.
The 2024 CAP LGBTQI+ community survey
In 2024, CAP partnered with NORC at the University of Chicago to complete the third wave of the LGBTQI+ Community Survey. This survey is nationally representative and examines experiences of discrimination and barriers to community participation for LGBTQI+ adults in America.
LGBTQI+ people must contend with navigating a health care system fraught with inconsistent levels of discrimination protections, affordability, and accessibility. While some states require medical providers and insurers to serve all patients—including LGBTQI+ patients—equally, other states allow providers to turn away LGBTQI+ patients for personal, religious, or moral objections. This leaves LGBTQI+ people dependent on a smaller number of providers who are willing and able to work with them. Bans on reproductive care not only affect the ability of LGBTQI+ people to access abortion care, they also make it harder for LGBTQI+ people to access all forms of health care.
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LGBTQI+ people have fewer health care options
According to the survey, LGBTQI+ people are twice as likely to struggle to find a new medical provider if their clinic or provider denied them service (20 percent compared with 10 percent of non-LGBTQI+ people). Even worse, more than one-third of transgender people believe finding a new medical provider would be “very difficult” or “not possible.”
Providers and clinics generally offer a range of necessary medical care services to their patients in addition to potential abortion services. Planned Parenthood, for example, offers many forms of essential primary care. State abortion bans are leading to the closure of clinics and the relocation of doctors to other states. The loss of these medical providers—and the multitude of types of care they offer—means less access to all forms of health care, particularly for LGBTQI+ patients.
The CAP/NORC survey findings show that abortion bans are already having this harmful effect. Due to state abortion bans, 11 percent of LGBTQI+ people were forced to change medical providers or struggled to find them, compared with 2 percent of non-LGBTQI+ adults. Additionally, 15 percent of disabled LGBTQI+ people also experienced difficulties in keeping and finding providers due solely to abortion bans.
Because LGBTQI+ people already struggle to find care that affirms their identity and is free of discrimination, laws restricting access to medical care mean even fewer medical resources, threatening the health of LGBTQI+ patients across the country.
Accessing abortion is more difficult for LGBTQI+ people
LGBTQI+ people are more likely to have to travel out of state to access abortion or reproductive care (4 percent compared with 1 percent of non-LGBTQI+ people). Moreover, 8 percent of LGBTQI+ people of color also traveled out of their state to access this care, as did 15 percent of Black LGBTQI+ people.
Even more concerning, survey findings show LGBTQI+ communities also are disproportionately more likely to be unable to access abortion care at all. One percent of all adults who wanted to obtain abortion services in the United States were unable to do so, compared with 5 percent of LGBTQI+ adults and 7 percent of disabled LGBTQI+ adults.
Family planning in the era of abortion bans
Abortion bans are anti-family, disproportionately affecting parents and causing many people to delay or altogether give up hope of having children due to fears of being denied emergency reproductive care. LGBTQI+ people, too, are changing their plans to have or expand their families due to bans on abortion and reproductive care. According to survey findings, 7 percent of LGBTQI+ people have delayed family planning due to abortion bans compared with 2 percent of non-LGBTQI+ people.
Beyond delaying family planning, a larger share of LGBTQI+ people is deciding not to have children due to abortion bans. According to survey findings, 11 percent of LGBTQI+ people have decided not to have children because of abortion bans, compared with 2 percent of non-LGBTQI+ people. This is especially concerning for LGBTQI+ parents, who disproportionately rely on the support of fertility clinics and providers to start families and have children.
Conclusion
LGBTQI+ people, like everyone, need access to reproductive care, maternal care, and abortion services. And, like all of those suffering from lack of care as these services are vilified, restricted, and even banned, LGBTQI+ people are experiencing the same hardships.
States should pass policies protecting access to abortion to support LGBTQI+ patients. Additionally, protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, such as those provided in the recently reintroduced Equality Act, must be passed and applied to health care services.
The cost of abortion bans is severe and wide-reaching, threatening the well-being of families and hampering access to all forms of health care across the country. Abortion care is necessary, evidence-based medical care that should be accessible for all who need it, including LGBTQI+ people.