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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy Abortion IS a Progressive Economic Issue
Why Abortion IS a Progressive Economic Issue
By BRYCE COVERT APRIL 25, 2017
The Democrats unity tour fractured into disunity almost immediately after it began. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont refused to say whether Jon Ossoff, the Democratic candidate trying to win a typically Republican district in Georgia while being outspoken in support of abortion rights, counts as a progressive. He then went on to stump for Heath Mello in Nebraska. Mr. Mello, who is running for mayor in Omaha, has sponsored legislation aimed at restricting womens access to abortion, including a bill in 2009 that required women to be informed that they could look at ultrasounds of their fetuses. The Democratic National Committee chairman, Thomas E. Perez, didnt do much to dampen the growing outrage among progressives who see reproductive rights as core to their values. If you demand fealty on every single issue, then its a challenge, he said last week. Its not just a misstatement from Mr. Perez or a slight from Mr. Sanders. Democrats, in their post-election soul searching, are trying to learn the lessons from Donald Trumps jolting victory and how they might win back the presidency. And some all men so far, it should be noted argue that the party should move away from so-called social issues like abortion and reproductive freedom.
Instead, these men contend, the partys focus must be on economics. The glaring mistake they all make, however, is thinking that there is any way to disentangle reproductive rights from economic issues. Economics frequently drive women to seek an abortion in the first place. Unintended pregnancies have become increasingly concentrated among low-income women, who by 2011 were more than five times as likely to experience one as those with greater means. Among women getting an abortion, a 2004 survey found, the most frequently cited reasons were that a new child would interfere with education or work or that women couldnt afford to have a baby at that time. Abortion rates rose during the recent recession, particularly among low-income women, as they and their partners lost jobs and income.
And economics reverberates throughout womens lives when they cant get the abortions they need. In a study of women who sought an abortion, those who were unsuccessful were three times as likely to fall into poverty over the following two years as those women who were able to get one, despite beginning in comparable financial situations. They were also more likely to wind up unemployed. Women who can get the abortions they seek, however, are more likely to follow through on their employment or educational plans. A woman in a precarious financial situation who knows she cant afford a baby can easily fall farther behind if she has to raise a child, something that costs the average parent thousands of dollars a year. In a country that offers little to no paid leave, child care assistance or other supports, a new child can make it impossibly difficult to hold down a job or get a higher degree.
Democratic Party leaders have frequently tried to play down abortion to win elections. After Democrats failed to take the White House in 2004, Howard Dean, who would soon become chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said, I have long believed that we ought to make a home for pro-life Democrats. This thinking among Democrats paved the way for debate on the Affordable Care Act to come to a screeching halt when Blue Dog Democrats like Bart Stupak wanted to insert anti-abortion provisions.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/opinion/why-abortion-is-an-progressive-economic-issue.html?_r=0
Demsrule86
(68,576 posts)pro-choice must be the norm.
Me.
(35,454 posts)as long as the vote is pro-choice
Demsrule86
(68,576 posts)ProfessorPlum
(11,257 posts)it never gets old
niyad
(113,306 posts)ProfessorPlum
(11,257 posts)sheshe2
(83,770 posts)often. Thanks niyad.
JTFrog
(14,274 posts)Now many of the same people are being ridiculously obtuse and dismissive of women's rights in light of a certain someone saying we should accept openly anti-choice candidates into our fold.
So very transparent.
niyad
(113,306 posts)musette_sf
(10,201 posts)and must be reminded that Sec'y Clinton's stance on reproductive justice all along, has simply been to reiterate the parameters of Roe v Wade.
JTFrog
(14,274 posts)Unbelievable. Just saw that thread. Why are so many so willing to buy into the lies and propaganda and why is that shit allowed to stand?
Skinner said he wouldn't let it happen again, yet here we are...... Democrats thrown under the bus left and right in effort to create as much division as possible.
So much fail going on.