The economic cost of abortion bans [View all]

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Yahoo Finance

The economic cost of abortion bans

Rick Newman · Senior Columnist
Wed, May 11, 2022, 4:10 PM

Abortion is obviously a fraught moral issue. There are also important economic consequences states ought to consider if the Supreme Court does overturn Roe v. Wade, as expected, and most Republican-led states impose severe abortion restrictions or outright bans. ... “Eliminating the right of women to make a decision about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said during a Congressional hearing on May 10. Yellen said the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, which legalized abortion nationwide, “enabled many women to finish school. That increased their earning potential, it allowed women to plan and balance their families and careers.”

The Supreme Court is due to rule by June on a Mississippi law that would be one of the nation’s most aggressive efforts to restrict abortion, if the high court upholds it. The leak of a draft opinion indicates the court will do just that, overturning Roe and opening the door for at least half of all states to sharply curtail or ban abortion. The political implications could be explosive, but the economic consequences could be substantial, as well.

Yellen, a labor economist by training, is surely aware of numerous studies that have examined the financial impact on women unable to obtain a desired abortion, and on the broader economy. Last September, more than 150 economists filed an amicus brief in the Mississippi case before the Supreme Court, citing the negative impact on women’s educational attainment, earning potential and career success if forced to bear a child they don’t want. ... “The financial effects of being denied an abortion,” they wrote, “are thus as large or larger than those of being evicted, losing health insurance, being hospitalized, or being exposed to flooding due to a hurricane.”

Nearly half of women who get an abortion in the United States are already living below the poverty level. If forced to raise a child against their wishes, they’d have to forego work or find child care if they want to work, which can easily cost $10,000 per year. The burden of raising a child explains why young mothers, not surprisingly, are less likely to finish high school or attend college, which directly correlates with lower lifetime incomes. Reluctant mothers are also more likely to receive public assistance.

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