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In Northern Ireland, Catholics and Protestants are frequently segregated, with some neighborhoods , reflecting deep historical .

Ninety percent of Northern Ireland's 1.87 million people are Christian, with Protestants, once the solid majority there, now . But members of these faiths remain divided decades after a 1997 meant to end sectarian violence in the region.

Northern Irish politicians do agree on one thing lately, the New York Times : banning abortion.

It is illegal in Northern Ireland to end a pregnancy unless it endangers the mother's life, though of Northern Ireland's population . As a result, women who seek abortions typically go to England, where abortion is legal.

But, as my , not everyone can afford abortion expenses. That includes women in the United States, where restrictive abortion laws mean the nearest clinic may be many miles away.

Unaffordable abortion

In one , I examined data of over 2,300 patients in Ireland, Northern Ireland and who had received financial assistance from , charitable organizations that help people access abortions they can't afford.

Though the Republic of Ireland , leaving Northern Ireland as the only nation on the British Isles with an abortion ban, our research took place when abortion was illegal in both nations.

The average abortion expense for our sample was US$585, while patients had on average just $307 at their disposal to pay for the procedure. Eighty-four percent of these abortion-seekers were single, 34% were age 21 or under, and 8% were minors. They had, on average, two children each.

This profile is comparable to that of the almost 4,000 abortion fund service recipients in the United States whose data we also studied. In the U.S., abortion is legal nationally but .

We found many similarities between the patients. The American patients had, on average, $422 to contribute to abortions that cost around $1775. They were also young, single parents of two. These American low-income abortion-seekers traveled, on average, for their procedure.

Penalizing the poor

Recent changes to U.S. highlight another parallel between Northern Ireland and the United States: the influence of .

In mid-August, Planned Parenthood announced its – a Nixon-era family planning program for – due to a new requirement that Title X medical providers cannot also offer abortions.

Title X funds . But by eliminating funding for facilities that offer abortions in addition to other reproductive services, the Trump administration rule may leave without family planning care.

The new rule is part of an old American effort, , to make legal abortions as difficult as possible to obtain.

The new Title X rule builds on the , which prevents federal dollars from paying for abortion expenses. Low-income women relying on programs like Medicaid for health insurance must pay out-of-pocket for abortion, reallocating money .

While most manage to , research shows, some poor American women end up against their will.

Many states in the southern U.S. – a conservative region where – require for patients to "reflect" on abortion decisions. In practice, that means two mandatory in-person trips to the clinic and .

In Tennessee, where there is a 48-hour abortion waiting period, my found that abortion-seekers from the mountainous Appalachian region reported financial and personal strain, as well as problems arranging child care and transportation. Appalachia is a rural, remote region where . The likely puts legal abortion for some.

Religion in health policy

Many nations in Europe can be classified as predominantly Christian, much like the American South and Northern Ireland. But few allow religious ideology to influence their reproductive health laws.

In France, , abortion is legal, and 80% of the French support the procedure in , according to the Pew Research Center.

Legal abortion is similarly acceptable throughout Western Europe, Pew polling finds, with public support at – all nations.

Catholic Ireland, where even condoms used to be banned, recently voted to . The momentous decision was spurred by the who was denied an abortion after miscarriage.

Evidence-based policies

Irish voters' willingness to modernize abortion laws against Catholic teaching reflects a reality that my research lays bare: Reproductive health policies based on ideology rather than scientific evidence fail to serve the public.

Studies show that abortion rates across countries are similar . So making abortions illegal or inaccessible generally does not stop women from getting them.

Wealthier abortion patients with adequate resources will overcome costs and other barriers that restrictive abortions law throw in front of them. Poor abortion-seekers are more likely to seek .

Research from Latin America confirms this. This socially conservative, heavily Catholic region has the . It also has the highest rates of clandestine abortions.

Religious freedom is critical in any free society, and faith provides a vital source of comfort for many people. But evidence shows that religion can be a burden, not a blessing, when it comes to reproductive health.