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The highest maternal poverty levels are in trigger law states, data shows
Data shows that women in many of the trigger law states are less likely to have health insurance and more likely to be below the poverty line.
Social & Lifestyle
Data shows that women in most trigger law states are less likely to have health insurance and more likely to be below the poverty line.
On average, nearly 1 of every 4 women who gave birth between 2015 and 2020 in 13 states with pending state-level abortion laws post-Roe v. Wade are below the poverty line, compared to 1 in 5 women in states where abortion is legal, according to an NBC News analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.
Utah and Wyoming, which are trigger law states, have the lowest maternal poverty rates in the nation. But nine of the 13 trigger law states have rates above the national average of 21%; Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia account for four of the five highest maternal poverty levels in the country. New Mexico, where abortion is legal, is at 33%.
Other factors that would make raising a child more difficult, such as access to health insurance, are also more pronounced in trigger law states. Uninsured levels among women in the majority of trigger law states exceed the national average.
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