Total Ban on Abortions Could Reduce Wages by $10 Billion Per Year
The PA Budget and Policy Center is releasing a new paper, “The Cost of Banning Abortion.” Drawing on a few decades of research, this paper shows that banning abortion will severely harm women in the state, and especially harm to women of color and women with low incomes. The paper summarizes research showing that the inability to secure abortion harms women’s physical and mental health, makes it harder for them to secure an education, reduces their prospects for employment and good wages, and is likely to leave them facing hardship and poverty. The paper concludes that the combined direct and indirect effects of a total ban on abortion in Pennsylvania will likely reduce wages in the state by $10 billion a year.
Read the full the report here: https://keystoneresearch.org/research_publication/the-cost-of-banning-abortion/.
Watch the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDP7qk5BbDU
Key findings:
- Studies have found that women’s college enrollment and completion rates drop in states that have targeted restrictions to abortion. This effect was especially severe for Black women’s educational attainment.
- Nationally, the majority of women who seek abortions are already mothers and cite wanting to better provide for the children they already have as a strong reason for wanting an abortion.
- The Turnaway Study notes that 6% to 22% of women who seek abortions experience intimate partner violence, with reports of physical violence decreasing for women who received abortions but not for those who were denied an abortion and gave birth.
- The estimated economic cost of a full abortion ban in Pennsylvania would be over $10 billion yearly.
PA Budget and Policy Center website: https://keystoneresearch.org/
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