Women who are denied abortions risk falling deeper into poverty. So do their kids

Abortion-rights advocates demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court last December as it heard a case that could strike down the constitutional right to abortion. Economists say decades of research show that doing so would limit women's economic prospects. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Like most women seeking an abortion, Brittany Mostiller already had children when she unexpectedly got pregnant again. "I had two young daughters both under the age of 5, sharing a two-bedroom apartment with my sister," she says.

She'd also just been laid off from her overnight job as a greeter for Greyhound buses. Her unemployment benefits were less than her wages there, and nearly all of them went toward rent and utilities. "I'm not even sure I had a cellphone at that time," she says. "If I did, it was certainly on and off," to save money.