Most Americans know the economic impact of reversing Roe v Wade. Or at least we have a good idea people will be impoverished. That means America will be somewhat impoverished.
Roberts call the leak a “betrayal”. He fails to understand the court is about to commit a personal and major economic betrayal of our country. Major economic loss because GDP growth in our nation is based on a rising middle class at this time. The court is setting back our nation.
The decision will be seen as unpopular by over 70% of Americans. The court is acting with a sharp stick to poke the country in the eye.
There is another effect of the overturning of Roe childhood poverty will rise. With crime against your families and other government budget costs, your taxes will pay for this. Like or not the court does not care.
When I was 19 years old (1973) I got a summer job working in a small Manhattan, NY hospital that (among other things) performed legal abortions up to 24 weeks. I had several jobs, including transcribing the radiologist’s reports, operating the switchboard, and phone counseling women who called in to schedule appointments.
Many of the women who phoned in were from other states where abortion was illegal. They (and any companion) had to travel to NYC, find a place to stay, have the abortion and travel back home. I wasn’t aware of insurance issues at that age, but today that would be high on the list of concerns.
One day, while I was operating the switchboard, a rather stoned-looking hippie chick came into the switchboard room and asked me how much an abortion cost. It was $250. She said, “I don’t have the money. Guess I’ll have the baby” and wandered out. I thought to myself, “Does she think that giving birth and raising a child costs less than $250?”
Poor women, who need abortions most, can’t afford to travel. Many live hand-to-mouth and can’t afford to miss a day’s work. I don’t know the current cost of an abortion but I’m pretty sure that Medicaid won’t cover it in a different state.
Poor women, who need abortions most, can’t afford to travel. Many live hand-to-mouth and can’t afford to miss a day’s work. I don’t know the current cost of an abortion but I’m pretty sure that Medicaid won’t cover it in a different state.
Certainly true - though as your anecdote illustrates, many (far too many) of those women have difficulty trouble accessing abortion to begin with.
I think the below-linked article has a lot of information that can help us assess the impact on the labor force. About half of women who obtain abortions are below the poverty line, and about 2/3 of abortions are obtained by women who live in blue states. In large part, that’s because poverty and abortion access are already linked - many (most?) of the women who are denied access to abortion through legal and financial barriers are poor women living in red states. And about 60% of them already have children.
So of the 600K abortions or so that happened last year, only a small proportion of them involve a resident of a state likely to ban abortion who doesn’t already have at least one child. A very large number of the ones that do are likely to have trouble getting the funds to travel out of state, but some non-trivial number will be able to. Which makes this likely ruling a tragedy for hundreds of thousands of people, but probably not one that has a macro effect on the labor supply.
As others noted upthread the result of this decision for demographics is interesting but not all that big.
The BIG results are currently subtle
Reversal of “Settled Law” to achieve this decision can have enormous consequences.
The settled law being reversed is NOT limited to abortion, but includes every aspect of what had previously been considered “private life” and “home life” none of which is now safe. Big Brother government has been greenlighted. The ancient English common law notions of “home as castle” has been breached.
The overwhelming majority of women who live with their school age children are still in the workforce… About half of women who obtain abortions are below the poverty line, and about 2/3 of abortions are obtained by women who live in blue states.
Thanks for providing those bits of data.
The majority of women with spawn still participating in the workforce means they have the means to warehouse their spawn while at work.
I am not at all surprised that abortion usage skews to the poor end of the scale, because they don’t have the means to achieve the first case. I have noticed the number of people living in Detroit that are raised by a grandmother, or aunt, because their own mother took off, or was too irresponsible, or simply could not manage a job and a child. There is a 50% divorce rate in Shinyland. Shattered families are everywhere. Even if a divorced father has the means to pay child support, he can’t contribute time, and the child support isn’t enough to cover spawn warehousing while mom is at work.
wrt the bulk of abortions occurring in blue states, would someone like to correlate inaccessibility of abortion in a state, with high poverty and low education in the same state? Is lack of abortion access a contributor to high poverty and low education? If so, how does it help the US to have more poverty and less education?
Of course, the same people who have been trying to overturn Roe for 50 years, have an easy solution “we need old fashioned morals in this country, we need government mandated prayer in the schools”, which will open another divisive can of worms, but not help one bit with one simple fact: pre-Roe, working people in the US made a better living, and could support a stay at home mom. Pay rates since the US went “supply side” have not kept pace with productivity and inflation, and don’t support that lifestyle anymore.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Planned Parenthood sets up a travel fund campaign. — That would be interpreted as “aiding and abetting a crime”.
Nah. Just offer a low-cost vacation package to, say, Springfield Illinois – round-trip bus fare, a room for three nights, tickets to the Lincoln museum. In the hotel room there’s a list of local attractions, restaurants and doctors (in case you’re not feeling well).
Nah. Just offer a low-cost vacation package to, say, Springfield Illinois -
Do you think the factions who have been working to overturn Roe for nearly 50 years would let themselves be circumvented so easily?
For those who missed the “news” broadcasts this evening, this map shows the twenty states where abortion is protected by state law and the states that an overturn of Roe will result in immediate ban on abortion.
Map: 23 states would ban abortion in a post-Roe America
Frankly, I am surprised that Alaska, Iowa, and Montana have protected abortion rights. Those states may have let their laws stand as they were moot, as long as Roe stood. I expect the pressure to repeal their laws, and go the other way, will now be irresistible.
Again, you are assuming there will never, ever, be a federal ban. I expect a federal ban will be the next thing on the agenda, the moment the SCOTUS decision is made official.
I expect to see a lot more people gracing the voting booth to express their preference. There is a cost to ignoring the duty to vote.
I expect to see a lot more people gracing the voting booth to express their preference. There is a cost to ignoring the duty to vote.
Polls have shown a pretty consistent 60% of USians favoring abortion availability, for decades. That doesn’t seem to concern the “leaders and statesmen”.
Reversal of “Settled Law” to achieve this decision can have enormous consequences.
The settled law being reversed is NOT limited to abortion, but includes every aspect of what had previously been considered “private life” and “home life” none of which is now safe. Big Brother government has been greenlighted. The ancient English common law notions of “home as castle” has been breached.
We now know that at least 3 of the Supremes lied during their confirmation hearings.
Jaak
I am curious. At confirmation hearings (which I never watch, I only view highlights on youtube) do these sanctimonious judges swear to tell the truth with their right hand on a Bible before questioning begins?
We now know that at least 3 of the Supremes lied during their confirmation hearings.
While Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were caught in a lie, Amy Comey Barrett is a much more skillful prevariactor. When asked about “settled law”, she said something like “that’s an academic thing, it doesn’t mean anything in court”. You can’t really say she was lying.