The Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision will have a swift and negative long-term impact on the financial security of millions of Americans. The guaranteed right to make autonomous decisions about one’s reproductive health has played a causal role in the economic advancement of American women – particularly women earning lower-incomes and women of color – according to an amicus brief filed by more than 150 economists in the Dobbs ruling.

The ability to control their reproductive health and well being has improved a variety of economic factors for women, with an outsized impact on Black women, and has reduced the number of children living in poverty. Now, those gains are at risk as this decision threatens to further widen the racial and gender wealth gap.

Reproductive choice inevitably impacts financial security. While there are many different points of view about abortion, decades of research show that reproductive choice is critical to women’s equal participation in society. Denying women control over their own reproductive health will disproportionately impact women living on lower incomes, and particularly women of color, and is associated with a number of negative economic outcomes. Women denied an abortion have 4x greater odds of their household income being below the federal poverty level, 3x greater odds of unemployment and are more likely to be unable to pay for basic family necessities such as food, transportation and housing, according to the Turnaway study.

The issue is perhaps best summed up in the opinion of the dissenting judges: “Above all others, women lacking financial resources will suffer from today’s decision.” The wider economic and health ramifications of this decision can’t be ignored. It is a threat both to the health and well-being of millions of women and also has far-reaching implications on the long-term economic stability of American families across the country living with financial insecurity every day.