In a testimony to lawmakers Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that banning abortions would hurt the economy.
Yellen’s comments come a week after a leaked draft majoirity opinion that indicated the Supreme Court is preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade, a court decision that grants the right to women in the U.S. to abortions.
“I believe that eliminating the right of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades,” Yellen said at a Senate Banking Committee hearing, according to Politico.
The Research On Abortion And Economics: Abortion restrictions cost the U.S. economy more than $100 billion a year, according to a recent report from Fortune. The U.S. is one of the only countries in the world with no mandated paid leave time.
This means that for the vast majority of people in the U.S., when a woman takes time away from work to have a baby, she is not bringing in any income. Additionally, money the woman would have spent in other parts of the economy will go to the birth instead.
This also leads to higher turnover at companies, which lowers productivity.
The Brookings Institution researched and outlined the economic impact of abortion and concluded that restricting abortion will economically hurt women, especially those struggling financially already.
“Without a federal paid leave policy and access to affordable childcare, the U.S. lacks the infrastructure to adequately support mothers, and especially working mothers — making the prospect of motherhood financially unworkable for some,” according to Brookings.
The Brookings report said that because different states have different laws and regulations related to abortion, it makes it possible to look data throughout years and years to see the economic impact of abortions.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Benzinga file photo by Dustin Blitchok.
