Access to abortion hasn’t always been a significant stand-off in the United States as it is now. In fact, it hasn’t even always been a religious question. Until the 1850s, abortion was a simple reality, though quietly carried out, for all types of Americans with uteruses and was primarily a service provided by other women. Midwives used abortifacient plants, physical irritation of the womb, and standard, surgical D&Cs (dilation and curettage) to provide abortions to people who didn’t want a child, couldn’t afford to have one, were afraid of social backlash, or for other health reasons. Only when the American Medical Association, a strictly male-dominated group at the time, began to take root in society did abortion become a question of necessity. Between 1860 and 1880, forty or more anti-abortion laws were put into effect in order to tarnish the reputation of “irregular” practitioners. This was in order to further isolate women and people of color from medicine. But what does this mean now and how has the demographic changed for those who need access to abortions? Access to abortion is more important than ever when considering the statistics on issues such as poverty, healthcare, and sexual assault, especially in the case of transgender people and the rest of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Compared to 16% of cis-gendered people, people in the LGBTQIA+ community experience poverty at a rate of 22%. In this country, COVID-19 and other factors make it increasingly difficult to live a life of home ownership and access to general healthcare, much less specialized procedures such as abortions. Living below the poverty line, or even close to it, creates a significant indicator for abortion. Transgender individuals are the group with the highest rate of poverty in America at 29.4%. In 2005, 73% of individuals reported that poverty was the reason they chose abortion; that number rose to 81% when concerning those under the poverty line. To accumulate this into one factual statement: those transgender individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB) are the single most likely group to be impoverished and, therefore, in the scenario of having an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy, are most likely to seek and receive abortions. In a country where healthcare is a question rather than a fact, this creates a very scary environment for those who experience higher rates of mental illness, disabilities, poverty, and hate crimes.
All of these aspects that affect LGBTQIA+ individuals more than cisgender people make accessing abortion an even bigger hurdle. Nearly 80% of rapes and sexual assaults go unreported in general in the United States, according to Cameron Kimble with the Brennen Center for Justice. With transgender people standing as a portion of that percentage, it makes sense that some of these people might require the opportunity to terminate a pregnancy. Having access to abortion is the first hurdle to overcome; then, the challenges really arise. For those who struggle with their identity and gender expression in a society that ultimately requires them to blend in with the crowd or face backlash, seeking help and services concerning reproductive health can be more than just overwhelming. Reasons listed by those in the LGBTQIA+ community for not reporting sexual assault include:
- Denial of services upon identifying themselves as such
- Being outed without their consent (which can cause further harm, both mental or physical)
- Escalation of the violence already experienced
- Having to educate healthcare providers on LGBTQIA+ issues, potentially compounding trauma
For those who have no option but to seek support and care at shelters (those who experience poverty, as many LGBTQIA+ do), having a gender identity that does not match the letter on their birth certificate can lead to further problems: if a shelter is specific to biological sex, (“Women’s Shelter”), finding support for reproductive services such as abortions can be difficult or even impossible to find. Lack of access for any individual seeking abortive services leads to dangerous, at-home attempts as well as potentially forcing a victim to return to their abuser.
When it comes to seeking help for any kind of assault, it’s not an easy choice. According to HRC.org, “85 percent of victim advocates surveyed by the NCAVP reported having worked with an LGBTQ survivor who was denied services because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” There are over a million transgender individuals in the United States and many hope for ways to be affirmed. With something so delicate and potentially traumatizing as abortion can be, gender-affirming language is the least that can be adjusted for them. Access to less invasive procedures, such as herbal or medicinal abortion techniques, can make hugely significant differences in how AFAB transgender people experience abortions and take control of their own bodies.
Concerning any type of healthcare, transgender and non-binary people have to consider and reconsider where they go and what they request from total strangers, despite those strangers having taken oaths to care for them. For those who seek either or both reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care, times are getting harder. Bills being passed to restrict access to abortion are similarly attacking gender-affirming care, such as hormone therapy. Not knowing exactly who is on the other side of the curtain can be an incredibly nerve-wracking experience for those who may or may not fall within “passing” expectations. Autonomy when it comes to one’s own body goes beyond which clothes are worn, the elective and aesthetic surgeries undergone, and the letter on a birth certificate.
Whether your identity matches your assigned sex, you “pass” in a crowd, or you choose not to identify at all, it makes no difference to what you deserve as a human being. All people seeking support for reproductive, gender-affirming, or a mixture of both types of care deserve the right to find it. Poverty, healthcare, and sexual assault are things that can happen to any and all of us, despite color, orientation, identity, religion, or creed, and should be accompanied by compassion without fear. To say that the identity and needs of each individual are mutually exclusive is to say that the sun always rises and sets with the same colors.
As a lifelong writer of creative stories and novellas, Vance graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Communication. She is deeply invested in the art of connecting others through writing and words and shining a light on otherwise shrouded communities such as LGBTQ+, neurodivergent groups, and survivors of domestic abuse. Located in Talkeetna, AK with her five cats and Australian Shepherd, Corvo, she works towards a career in writing and editing as well as a Master’s in Communication.
