Personal Accountability for the Children Born Because Abortion is Banned

To provide proper care for hundreds of thousands of children who would be born if abortion is banned, America’s social safety net would have to be expanded to fill the gap for these families and their children, and cover part of the $270 billion cost of raising them that parents (especially mothers) could not.

Unfortunately, people who support the “right to life” are also generally against providing economic assistance to those living at, or near, the poverty line. However, the reality is that more than twelve million of the 100 million people who live at or below 200% of the poverty line are actually full-time workers. Hard work does not guarantee economic self-sufficiency.

Here’s a thought that fits with the idea of personal accountability and respecting life. Polls indicate approximately 37% of American adults—roughly 77 million people—believe abortion should be illegal. Since the people who want to ban abortion are subjecting their belief on the rest of America, forcing people into situations that they do not want, would it be fair to say that they should agree to pay for the upbringing that these children will need?  People who want to prohibit abortion and believe in individual responsibility should step up and avert the fiscal debt that will result from their actions, so that these children can be raised properly and grow up to be healthy, functioning adults.

To cover the shortfall in raising these newly born Americans, each adult opposing abortion would have to contribute approximately $3500 per year.

We also need to acknowledge that the cost of supporting all these new children will be even higher than the previous figure, which does not include the costs of caring for children that may be disabled or handicapped. Right now, about one in six children born in America have some kind of developmental disability. About one in forty-four children born in America are diagnosed with autism, and the average cost of treatment for autism up to age 18 reaches one million dollars – $700,000 more than a child born without autism. These children are also likely to need additional services and care as adults. The average cost of raising a child with significant health problems or disabilities can be as much as quadruple the cost for a child without them – as much as $1.2 million.

There is one more significant result of banning abortions that must also be considered in future planning. Approximately 10% of pregnancies are terminated because of fetal health problems or physical health problems for the mothers.  Aside from the costs of a lifetime of care that has been addressed above, there will be additional health care costs during the pregnancy and birth, and potentially for the mothers after birth.  Inevitably, and tragically, some of these fetuses and some mothers would not survive. Families that have lost their mothers will be devastated and will require emotional and probably financial support that goes beyond what an extended family can provide.

Clearly, the additional costs for all the new babies born with health or developmental problems born will add significantly to that $3,500 per year share of expenses for adults who oppose abortion. Economists could do the research and come up with an accurate and complete figure.

In the “Right to Life” debate, we must embrace the implications for ALL life—not just an unborn fetus. If opponents of abortion wish to be truly pro-life, the outlook should be to embrace all aspects of this principle and embrace policies that support children, teens, and adults throughout the course of their lives. That means stepping up to personally shoulder their share of the cost of raising these children to adulthood.

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