Of course, it’s not about money. But money (the cost of bread and milk and gasoline) seems to be driving voters’ decisions about who to vote for in the Midterms. Why can’t the financial consequences of prohibiting abortions also become part of that decision?

I admit I got a C in economics, so I’m not the one to do a cost analysis. However, a woman’s common sense informs me at times like this. 

In early October, Brookings Institution analyzed U.S. Agriculture Department data and calculated: “From the day your baby is born until the day they turn 18, your family will spend about $310,605 — or about $17,000 a year” https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/cost-raising-child-calculator/.

Imagine a family of four or five, a mother whose income the family depends on, a single mother—imagine their paying for housing (a larger house might be necessary), education (not including college), food, transportation, health care, and clothing for one more child.

The $310,605 does NOT include what an influx of children will cost the community. We’ll need more schools, more teachers, more after-school programs, more police (as the kids become teens and get stopped for speeding, carrying pot, and disturbing the peace). All this paid for with TAX DOLLARS.

But wait. Republicans accuse Democrats of increasing taxes. So will Republicans pass legislation to pay for community services? Of course not. Why? Because the majority of those kids will be born to low-income women. We’ll hear more about “welfare mothers” who sap our country’s financial resources. The affluent white population will assume these women are Black.

Many will label single mothers promiscuous. Some will blame mothers for staying at home to care for their children instead of working. Some will accuse mothers who work low-wage jobs—women who cannot afford childcare, forced to leave children unsupervised—of child-neglect.  

Meanwhile, affluent white women are more able to travel out of state for an abortion. Their right to privacy remains intact. Their status as respectable citizens remains intact.

As soon as the Supreme Court struck down Roe, the radical right-to-life people spoke of how precious each embryo is. They made statements praising adoption and pledged community support for women forced to bear children. I don’t believe it. 

Mothers and families aren’t the only ones to pay the price. We all will bear the financial burdens. Have Republicans proposed a budget for this?

Of course, it’s not about money.