Would it surprise you to think that abortion bans reduce adoptions? This wasn’t anticipated by SCOTUS or even pro-life Texas lawmakers. (On the contrary.)
Many had predicted that banning abortions would make more babies available to be adopted. Texas representative Dan Crenshaw took to social media to crow “less abortion, more adoption. Why is that controversial?” (Why, indeed.) When Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the law here that limited abortions to females who were no more than 2 weeks past a missed period, the media anticipated a Big Story. Abrazo’s director had multiple interview requests from journalists asking about a “huge bump” in the number of infants being placed for adoption.
In 9/2021, just one week after SB8 passed in Texas, reporter Amanda Henderson came to Abrazo to discuss the public expectation that adoption was about to rise exponentially. Abrazo’s director expressed her doubts. “Every time the state of Texas has restricted abortion access, or implemented laws that were intended to promote adoption, it seems to have the opposite effect,” said Jurenovich.
Nine months later, in 6/2022, reporter Patty Santos visited Abrazo to explore whether adoption agencies were seeing a significant increase in placements as a result of the pending Dobbs decision in Washington, D.C. Again, Abrazo’s director took a measured approach in answering. “I am concerned that we’re going to see a vast increase in the number of child abuse and neglect cases. Because women who cannot end a pregnancy may not have the strength and courage and the integrity to approach the adoption process,” she said.
Why Those Turned Away from Abortion Rarely Choose Adoption
Dr. Laura Briggs addressed the issue squarely, in an abstract entitled “Making Abortion Illegal Does Not Lead to More Adoptions”, published in the Adoption & Culture Journal in 2022. She cited something known as the Turnaway Study, saying ” the overwhelming majority of those who are seeking abortions are, in reality, wrestling with parenting or abortion, not adoption or abortion. One study of those who sought abortions in the US but were turned away even before the Dobbs era (usually because their pregnancies were further along than they thought) found that ninety-one percent of such people decided to parent rather than place the child for adoption. As the authors of that study put it, “Political promotion of adoption as an alternative to abortion is likely not grounded in the reality of women’s decision making.”
The Turnaway Study was quoted again in a WashPo piece by Gretchen Sisson in 4/2024. “More than increasing adoptions, abortion bans will increase the number of people parenting in circumstances they would not otherwise choose,” Sisson stated, pointing out that while abortion numbers actually rose after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, infant adoption numbers across the US continue to dwindle.
And the lead researcher in the Turnaway Study, Dianne Green Foster didn’t mince words, either. In a 2023 Ms, magazine story. “Maybe people who adopt kids want to think that it’s easy on the birth mom, but the physical experience of giving birth is so massive and was so grossly ignored in that Supreme Court case,” said Foster. “As if babies just pop out and then you just go to the local firehouse and drop the kid off. As if it’s that simple and not … a massive shock to one’s entire physiology—not just while they’re pregnant or during birth, but for years after. The callousness with which motherhood was considered there was really shocking.”
Who is Reaping What’s Been Sown Here?
As it turns out, since the abortion bans, infant adoptions nationwide have slowed to a crawl. Hopeful adoptive couples like Abrazo’s parents-in-waiting find they are waiting longer for future opportunities to become available– even those who are open to a wider range of factors like race or prenatal drug exposure. The common result does appear to be that abortion bans reduce adoptions, just as Abrazo’s founder predicted several years ago.
“What we’re seeing is not an increase in the numbers of mothers opting to place babies for adoption. Limiting an expectant parent’s choices during pregnancy also seems to limit their ability to make choices after birth,” says Elizabeth Jurenovich. “The ultimate legacy of the abortion ban in Texas (and beyond) appears to be one of forced parenthood, followed by extended child poverty and rising numbers of child abuse and neglect.”
The latest statistics bear this out, sadly. National statistics show that since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the numbers of children entering state foster care is rising, particularly among children of color, and by 11%. Even worse, perhaps, in Texas, infant mortality has risen by 8% since abortion was banned, and Texas ranks almost dead last in maternal healthcare, according to the July 2024 Dallas Morning News. It’s a perfect storm that is only going to get worse, and nobody with any ethics would want to see adoption numbers improve by default.
Follow the money, though… manufacturers of ATM-like baby deposit boxes are cashing in, as well as the baby abandonment promoter (Safe Haven Baby Boxes) which leases them for $20k/year. Political candidates on both sides reap big money over the abortion debate. And in Texas, the Legislature is pouring $140 million into anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers yet it clearly isn’t benefitting women placing babies for adoption.
The Fix Is In
Look, we’re pro-adoption here, and that doesn’t mean pro-abortion. But the real issue is that whether or not you agree that abortion bans reduce adoption, there’s no denying that our state and our nation need to do more to address the problems that produce unwanted pregnancies in the first place. (Problems like maternal poverty, medical care, sex education, birth control access, sexual abuse, women’s rights, and so on.)
Let’s work towards that. Then– and only then– will we begin to see some much-needed and long-lasting changes that truly benefit both mothers and their daughters.
