This week marks 52 years since the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision–a ruling that was overturned nearly three years ago, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion. The consequences of lost access to this essential care have been devastating. States with abortion restrictions tend to have the stingiest public benefits supports for growing families. As a result, many low-income women have nowhere to turn: they face the economic repercussions of being denied abortion care and lack the support they need to meet their daily needs. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a program that helps low-income families with cash assistance, is particularly inadequate in states with aggressive abortion restrictions.
This map shows that 10 of the 12 states with the stingiest TANF cash benefits also have the harshest abortion restrictions. In these twelve states, TANF cash benefits are valued below 20 percent of the federal poverty line ($2,151 a month for a family of three). For a family receiving the maximum benefit of $215 in Mississippi, this doesn’t cover even a quarter of the median rental costs of $923. A federal minimum benefit, regularly adjusted for inflation and other relevant economic factors, would help all participating families receive support to meet their daily needs rather than scraping by.
Learn more about how abortion bans and insufficient public benefits at the state level affect women and families in Nowhere to Turn.