Abortion is not a source of prosperity. Chelsea Clinton recently claimed that legalizing abortion has added $3.5 trillion to the U.S. economy between 1973 and 2009. Michael New writes that her unseemly attempt to inject utilitarianism into a debate about fundamental rights turns out to be wrong on the facts:
[O]n Twitter, she cited a 2018 study by Diana Greene Foster that appeared in the American Journal of Public Health. This study was part of the abortion turnaway study which compared the life outcomes of women who obtained abortions to women who had sought abortions but were unable to obtain one because of gestational age limits. The study finds that women who were unable to obtain abortions were more likely to live in poverty in the short term. However, after a five year period, the poverty rates of women who carried their pregnancy to term were almost identical to the group of women who had first-trimester abortions. As such, this study provides no evidence to support Clinton’s assertion that legalizing abortion created trillions in wealth. […]
Abortion, along with contraception, has made it more socially acceptable for men to abandon women they impregnate. This has resulted in more single parent families which tend to rely more on public services. Also, abortion, along with other factors, has reduced fertility rates in the United States. As a result, the United States has fewer workers and fewer wealth producers. Furthermore, falling fertility rates means that we have fewer workers supporting more retirees through Social Security, Medicare, and other programs. That will result in either higher deficits or higher taxes – neither of which is economically beneficial.
[Michael New, “No, Chelsea Clinton, Roe v. Wade Did Not Create $3.5 Trillion in Wealth,” CNSnews.com, August 17]
