YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
While often viewed through the lens of morality, the issue of abortion has far-reaching economic impacts to consider, according to research on the topic.
Missouri voters will be asked on Nov. 5 to weigh in with Amendment 3. A “yes” vote would provide rights associated with reproductive health care, including abortion care and birth control, according to the ballot language. If approved, the amendment would legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability with exceptions to protect the life or health of the mother. A “no” vote would keep abortion illegal in Missouri, with some exceptions for medical emergencies, following a trigger law implemented in the Show Me State in June 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
A January 2023 research report, “The economics of abortion bans,” by the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank Economic Policy Institute, attempts to put an economic price tag on the abortion issue.
“Abortion has long been framed as a cultural, religious or personal issue rather than a material ‘bread and butter’ economic concern,” EPI researcher Asha Banerjee writes. “Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, more economic policymakers have been emphasizing the issue as a pressing economic concern.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, for example, has said 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.”
EPI research by Banerjee cited federal data in noting states with abortion restrictions or total bans have on average:
“This report argues that abortion access is fundamentally intertwined with economic progress and mobility,” Banerjee writes. “Specifically, in states where abortion has been banned or restricted, abortion restrictions constitute an additional piece in a sustained project of economic subjugation and disempowerment.”
There are 21 states that ban abortion or restrict the procedure, and 10 states have abortion ballot questions in November.
Line in the sand
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, whose predecessor Eric Schmitt issued an opinion in 2022 to execute Missouri’s trigger ban on nearly all abortions, has continued to carry the torch on protecting the state’s anti-abortion law.
Bailey pointed to the economics associated with abortion in a recent lawsuit filed by his office along with attorneys general in Kansas and Idaho. Reporting by the Missouri Independent indicates the lawsuit was filed in an attempt to restrict access to abortion pill mifepristone. The suit asks a Texas judge to order the federal government to reinstate restrictions on mifepristone. Bailey has said that abortion pills violate state and federal law.
The lawsuit filed this month against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration argues, in part, that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act requires public hospitals to treat anyone who comes in for emergency care, regardless of the ability to pay.
“If a public hospital provides medical services for complications stemming from chemical abortions and the state’s Medicaid program does not cover the full portion of the bill, the outstanding balance is a loss to the public hospital, which is itself an instrumentality of the state,” the lawsuit reads.
The suit further points to a “loss of potential population” resulting from increased access to medication abortions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows the U.S. fertility rate reached a record low in 2023, with roughly 55 births for every 1,000 women ages 15 to 44.
“Reflecting the ease of driving to another state to receive abortion drugs, it is estimated that just 2.4% of abortion-minded women were prevented from getting abortions in Missouri after Dobbs,” the lawsuit states, referring to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade.
The federal Supreme Court rejected an earlier attempt this year by Bailey and the Kansas and Idaho attorneys general to restrict access to abortion pills, saying the original plaintiffs, who are anti-abortion doctors and medical organizations, did not have legal standing to sue.
Bailey’s office could not be reached for comment by press time when asked for examples of economic data tied to abortion bans.
A spokesperson for Gov. Mike Parson’s administration said he’s not aware of any relevant data on file with the office.
A 2020 report titled “The Economic Burden of Abortion” was published in the Journal of Family and Reproductive Health and financially supported by the Iran University of Medical Sciences, whose researchers compiled data for the study.
A copy of the research was posted to the National Library of Medicine, an institute within the National Institutes of Health. Officials note that publication of scientific literature does not imply endorsement or agreement with the subject matter.
The research of the United States found that total costs per patient with abortion or post-abortion care ranged from $23 to $564, equating to annual costs in the U.S. ranging from $189,000 to $134 million.
“Abortion and post-abortion care impose a substantial economic burden on society,” the study concludes.
Federal legislators in the Democratic and Republican parties have released fact sheets with conflicting economic information about abortions.
A 2022 report from the Joint Economic Committee Republicans estimated the economic cost of abortion was at least $6.9 trillion in 2019 alone “due to the loss of nearly 630,000 unborn lives.”
Further, the report estimates the economic cost of abortion due to “the loss of unborn lives” is 425 times larger than the earnings loss mothers may experience when having a child.
“Abortion at its core is a moral issue rather than an economic one,” the report states. “But even in economic terms, the costs of abortion vastly outweigh any claimed benefits.”
A fact sheet released this summer by the Joint Economic Committee Democrats estimates abortion bans are costing the economy $68 billion per year.
The estimate from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research indicates those costs come from reduced labor force participation rates, lower earnings for women, higher employee turnover rates and lost work hours.
“Abortion bans both restrict women’s fundamental rights and make it harder for them to participate in the economy,” the fact sheet reads.
Springfield Business Journal reached out to myriad organizations on both sides of the abortion issue. Most either declined to comment or did not respond to a request for information by press time.
Economic development
Media reports abound about how conservative residents in states like California have moved to states more friendly to their politics.
The nonpartisan, nonprofit Tax Foundation, in a January 2022 report titled “Americans Moved to Low-Tax States in 2021,” suggested lower taxes in some states was the reason for the migration.
Findings presented in 2022 via the Axios-Ipsos Two Americas Index found that both Democrats and Republicans are more likely to relocate to states whose politics mirror their own.
Corporations, too, have weighed in on social issues through policy statements and initiatives.
On the abortion topic, Reuters reported in 2022 that Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) was implementing a policy that would reimburse U.S. employee who travel for abortions and other treatments. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), similarly, has told employees it would cover abortion travel costs in the wake of the overturning of Roe V. Wade, according to an NPR report.
SBJ reached out to both companies, which have a substantial presence in the Springfield area. Amazon did not provide information by deadline, and JPMorgan Chase declined to comment for this article.
Jonas Arjes, senior vice president of economic development for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, has decades of experience in economic development that involves attracting and retaining businesses in Missouri.
While he’s heard stories from other economic development professionals at conferences who have dealt with businesses considering social issues like abortion, it’s never come up in his career.
“This specific topic has never been brought up,” said Arjes, who previously worked in economic development in Taney County before taking the Springfield chamber job in October. “My personal experience is we’ve not had anything like that.”
In general, Arjes said when companies are looking to expand in Missouri, concerns are economic in nature.
“The standard stuff is proximity to buyers or suppliers, the ability to earn a profit or increase shareholder wealth,” he said.
A wave of affordable housing built in the 1990s through the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit are expected to revert to market rate housing in the next few years.
1) Why would potential mothers be willing to bring a child into this economy? It's an economy that doesn't care for their mother or the child. Maybe fix the run-down capitalist hellhole that exists and see if people would actually want to raise a child in it.
2) Claiming that the US could have had more money from wage slaves if the wage slaves weren't aborted is pretty low down. Aw shucks, if only we had more poor people to do all the stuff that keeps society running for minimum wage...
3) You can't legislate morality. Morality isn't objective, for one, and most people disagree that abortion is evil. These people are so out of touch to think that most people want less freedoms.
4) “But even in economic terms, the costs of abortion vastly outweigh any claimed benefits.” Spoken like someone that has never had to weigh the options of an abortion. The claimed benefits include not having to have/raise a child conceived by your rapist. So, how much would YOU pay to not have to raise your rapist's child?