Roe's Legal Fate Is Unclear. But Studies Already Show Who'd Likely Be Hit Hardest

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Debates about the status of Roe v. Wade continue after the Supreme Court's draft opinion was leaked last week. This week, the Senate is planning to vote on legislation that would codify abortion rights into a federal law, but it's likely to fail given the 50-50 split between Democrats and Republicans. That means abortion access will be left up to states — and some already have restrictive abortion laws.

Reproductive justice advocates are concerned about the disproportionate impact those laws will have on Black and Brown communities if Roe is overturned.

NPR's Sandhya Dirks spoke to some advocates about how women of color are situated in this abortion access debate. And NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin explains how restricting abortion access means restricting health care for people across all demographic backgrounds.

You can also hear more from Dr. Diana Green Foster, who spoke to NPR's science podcast Shortwave, which examined what happened when people had access to abortion and what happened when they were denied.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

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This episode was produced by Brianna Scott, Gabe O'Connor, and Taylor Hutchison. It was edited by Ashley Brown, Gisele Grayson, Marcia Davis, and Jane Greenhalgh. Our executive producer is Cara Tallo.