Abortion: Economics and Labor Force Essay

Submitted By tykiawilliams
Words: 1673
Pages: 7
Open Document
Responding to Economic Arguments for Abortion

What Do 40 Million Lost Lives Mean?
By Laura Antkowiak, NRL Research Assistant
In its controversial 1998 feature on the cost of a child, U.S. News & World Report declared unequivocally: "A child, financially speaking, looks more like a high-priced consumer item with no warranty. It's the decision to remain childless that offers the real investment opportunity."
This short-sighted commentary is symbolic of and relies on a particularly pernicious myth: that children are essentially unproductive cost centers, which implies that abortion economically "benefits" society because by choosing abortion parents have decided on a better "investment opportunity."
Even if pro-abortionists today do not put the argument quite so harshly as they did back in the 1970s, they still count on people tacitly accepting the assumption that children are an economic drain. Rarely do we hear that abortion has a cost to America beyond the "procedure's" price tag, or that a child may actually produce social and economic benefits.
In fact, as this article will show, the ethical argument (that all human beings are created equal) and the economic impact (harshly negative) speak with one voice. Abortion is bad both morally and economically.
This article does not intend to forward an argument against abortion that relies solely on economics. Such an argument would miss the true message of the pro-life movement, that abortion is wrong no matter what the economic consequences are. Certainly we would never place a monetary value on an individual human life.
But the hope is that this discussion will help pro-life advocates rebut popular economic arguments for abortion that do have a surface appeal for people who are not necessarily pro- or anti-life.
The pro-abortion economic argument tells us that children are expensive enough to justify abortion. Pro-abortionists claim that the cost of raising children burdens their parents, and it also burdens the public with additional welfare spending when poor mothers bear children. Further, they say abortion is necessary to check population growth and costs associated with this growth.
The simple response to the abortion advocates' case is that most children inevitably grow into adults. They work and pay taxes, or otherwise spend, save, invest, and innovate. Economists attest that even before these children reach adulthood, their very be-longing to a large and growing population spurs economic growth. The following four points give an overview of why abortion does not help, and in fact may be hurting, the U.S. economy.
Fewer babies mean fewer consumers, less demand for goods and services, and fewer jobs. In the eighth edition of his famous introductory economics book, Paul Samuelson notes that a growing population leads to higher levels of spending and may therefore lower unemployment.
Author Lawrence F. Roberge points out that having fewer children means having fewer consumers of child-specific items, from diapers to toys to school books. Fewer children create fewer job openings for teachers, doctors, manufacturers, retailers, and others from whom greater productivity is needed to support more children. Entire industries are geared toward children and families, so one can only begin to imagine the goods and the employees that would be affected by a lower number of births. Notice the recent concern about a holiday retail season that did not live up to expectations: two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States is consumer spending.
Abortion slows labor force growth. In its long-term forecast, the Social Security Administration (SSA) predicts that the growth rate of the U.S. economy, as measured by the total of goods and services produced in the United States, will slow.
States the SSA, "This . . . slowdown is mostly due to slower projected growth in labor force and employment." Abortion's impact on the labor force is already discernible (see
Show More

Related Documents: Abortion: Economics and Labor Force Essay

Slowing down Population Essay

Slowing down human population growth by Abortion By way of background there have been over 50 million abortions since the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, in the year 1973; in fact, this year marks the 38th Anniversary since that decision was made. Almost four decades later an estimated 19 million infants would now be old enough to contribute to the economy today, paying taxes, and paying into Social Security Fund, but they are not here. Furthermore, can be a huge contributing…

Words 709 - Pages 3

Abortion: Abortion and Abortion Women Assume Essay

The Benefits of Abortion Christine May Rodriguez English Composition- ENGL 150 Instructor Madeleine Wakefield Wednesday, March 19, 2014 The Benefits of Abortion Women assume freedom with regards to reproductive choices base on her knowledge and belief. However, “abortion is the most degrading inhuman…

Words 1152 - Pages 5

Environmental Science Essay examples

like eaurope but lowering birth rates. Us has pop growth under control. Disproportionate amount of resources. Factors affecting fertility rates: Targeting problem of overpopulation: -contraception use and availability/abortions -economic standing and education -child labor -nutrition and infant child death rates -religious beliefs -physical ability/age of marriage –arranged marrages in india, earlier you get married, more kids you have. -pop urban area, less of a chance for kids to be a…

Words 591 - Pages 3

Abortion: Controversial Issues In The United States

further. Currently, abortion and immigration are two topics that have politicians butting heads and, of course, the presidential election is an issue that concerns all Americans. Donald Trump, abortion, and immigration are three topics that will be discussed. The presidential election is the perfect opportunity…

Words 1414 - Pages 6

Latin American Gender Roles

values, where men suppress women into their “traditional gender roles”. In Latin America, gender roles and societal expectations of men and women have been shaped largely by cultural-specific values and beliefs. This region has been impacted by the economic and social change that has caused a decrease of the gender gap in some…

Words 1254 - Pages 6

Abortion: Roe V. Wade and Abortion Law Essay

Abortion: A Never Ending Controversy Approximately 205 million abortions occur each year worldwide. Over a third are unintended and about a fifth end in abortion. What is abortion? Abortion is the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus prior to viability. In other words, it is when a mother decides she doesn’t want to go through with her pregnancy. Abortion in today’s society has become very political. You are either pro-choice, pro-life, and there doesn’t…

Words 2759 - Pages 12

United States Constitution and Major Cities Essay

correct showing the strength of the U.S. and ARVN forces as if they could take back or hold “five of six major cities, 36 of 44 province capitals... military and economic facilities” [ ], then the Americans and South Vietnamese must have been in strong potion to hold or take back all of these potions with-in a few days. However this was some-what weak as there were some exceptions, for example in the ancient capital city of Hue the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army held the city of three weeks of…

Words 693 - Pages 3

Women's Rights In The Early 1900s

During the fight for women's suffrage, during the early 1900s, women accomplished labor rights and a changed social perception of women. Through creating a new female personality women combated social expectations of gender normalities. The outreach from women’s original sphere of domesticity to spheres such as politics and economics, furthered women’s involvement in society. Advancements in the women’s movement ultimately led to the emergence of a new woman figure who fought for greater equality…

Words 1137 - Pages 5

Essay about Geo 160 Study Guide

LECTURES a) Cities and urbanization Define urbanization, and associated driving force(s). * The movement of population from rural to urban areaa * The increasing proportion of a population that resides in urban rather than rural places * The physical growth of urban areas * Industrialization * Employment, education, healthcare system, civic facilites, rapid * Driving forces- Education opportunities, health care, and jobs that rural areas are lacking Indicate…

Words 3646 - Pages 15

History of the Civil War Essay

change or stay the same after the Civil War? Consider the economic, political, and social conditions of the South during Reconstruction? Also, consider how the position of African Americans in the South changed or stayed the same during this period. The South before the Civil War was an open land, with an economy based around the top down agricultural industry. During the pre-war era, the south had been at the mercy of socio-political and economic legislation that the north had been pushing through and…

Words 2519 - Pages 11