Opinion: The literal cost of overturning Roe v. Wade – By Kate Bahn (MSNBC) / June 24, 2022
One of the most seismic, yet overlooked, impacts of overturning Roe will be the constrains on our economic freedoms.
Friday’s Supreme Court decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson has effectively overturned Roe v. Wade, paving the way for upwards of 26 states to ban abortion care. There will be countless negative implications of this devastating blow to bodily autonomy. But one of the most seismic, yet overlooked, will be the constrains on economic freedoms.
Bodily autonomy interacts with self-determination across society, including the economy. When workers of any gender don’t have a voice or control over their lives, they are disempowered in the labor market, too — and this can have a negative effect on the American economy writ-large.
An amicus brief led by Caitlin Knowles Myers of Middlebury College and signed by 154 economists, including myself, details how abortion care strengthens economic security.
