What Bernie, Perez, and some others don't get: abortion is also an economic issue

[pnwmom]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/reminder-abortion-is-an-economic-issue_us_58f8d11be4b018a9ce58dd4f?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

Bernie Sanders traveled to Nebraska this week to throw his support behind Omaha Democratic mayoral candidate, Heath Mello, who is running against the incumbent Republican mayor, Jean Stothert. A Mello win, Sanders has said, would give hope to other “progressive Democrats” in conservative states.

But Mello’s “progressive” credentials are questionable at best. As a state senator, he co-sponsored a bill mandating that women have an ultrasound before they can have an abortion, saying it represented a “positive first step to reducing the number of abortions in Nebraska.”

As a populist, Sanders has built a political career protesting economic inequality— and yet by campaigning for Mello, he has demonstrated a willingness to separate economic justice from reproductive justice. (So has Democratic National Committee Chair, Tom Perez, who is also helping to campaign for Mello and who has defended that decision, saying the job of the DNC is to help Democratic candidates win.) But abortion access is not just a medical issue, or even a social one; it is, at its core, also an economic concern. Here’s why.

Unintended pregnancies place an enormous financial burden on women.

Raising children in the United States is expensive. Like, more than $230,000 per child (from birth to age 17) expensive. That includes food, transportation, housing, education (but not college), health care and child care. Oh, and daycare for babies is now more expensive than college tuition in most states.

SNIP

[all american girl]

1. pnwmom, I'm so angry about this...why is it that all women must give it up to men...

that's what Bernie want's and we are not allowed to get angry....I'm angry...I want more woman to be be angry

[frazzled]

2. Yes, huge economic issue

Not just for the cost of raising a child, but often permanent damage to the mother's future earnings.

I was fortunate never to have had to choose to have an abortion, but I thought strongly about the possibility of it after the birth of our second child. I lived in fear of getting pregnant with a third. I just didn't feel we could give the attention needed to our current children (one of whom had a disability), and the economic strain would have put us all under great duress. I felt certain that a 3rd child would lead to economic and emotional problems for the whole family. I'm glad I didn't have to make that decision, but I'm pretty sure I would have.