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Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

The economics of abortion (with Caitlin Myers)

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Civic Ventures

Business, Government, News, Politics

4.81.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 February 2022

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We often discuss abortion as an issue of bodily autonomy, personal rights, and reproductive justice. Of course it’s all of those things, but it’s also an economic issue. Access (or lack thereof) to an abortion profoundly affects women’s lives by determining if, when, and under what circumstances they become mothers. Whether or not women have access to abortion can change the direction of their lives, affecting educational attainment, labor force participation, and overall earnings. Economist Caitlin Myers breaks down her research into the subject and provides examples of the causal link between abortion access and economic outcomes in women’s lives. Caitlin Knowles Myers is the John G. McCullough professor of economics at Middlebury College and Co-Director of the Middlebury Initiative for Data and Digital Methods. She’s known for her recent research on the impact of contraception and abortion policies in the United States. Twitter: @Caitlin_K_Myers Opinion: Economists can tell you that restricting abortion access restricts women’s lives https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/29/abortion-economics-supreme-court Lack of abortion access will set US women back, economists warn https://www.ft.com/content/61251b31-0041-461c-bd33-aacf2f13fe10 What can economic research tell us about the effect of abortion access on women’s lives? https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-can-economic-research-tell-us-about-the-effect-of-abortion-access-on-womens-lives The economic reality behind a Mississippi anti-abortion argument https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/02/business/mississippi-abortion-law-economy.html The Economic Consequences of Being Denied an Abortion https://www.nber.org/papers/w26662 The Turnaway Study https://www.ansirh.org/research/ongoing/turnaway-study Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/ Twitter: @PitchforkEcon Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Transcript

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0:00.0

In this country, we tend to frame the question of abortion around religious or moral questions

0:07.0

or bodily autonomy and stuff like that.

0:09.2

But this is a policy that has enormous economic implications for women and particularly

0:15.0

for poor women.

0:16.2

As it happens, economists actually have a lot of objective answers about abortion.

0:20.1

We know a lot about how abortion access impacts people's lives.

0:23.9

At the end of the day, denying abortion is about power.

0:27.4

Yes.

0:28.4

From the home offices of civic ventures in downtown Seattle, this is pitchfork economics,

0:38.0

with Nick Hanauer, the best place to get the truth about who gets what and why.

0:48.9

I'm Nick Hanauer, founder of Civic Ventures.

0:52.0

I'm Jess and Farrell, and I'm Senior Vice President at Civic Ventures and a former state

0:56.6

legislator.

1:00.5

So Jess and today on pitchfork economics, we get to talk to a super interesting woman.

1:06.5

Caitlin Myers is the John Jean McCullough Professor of Economics at Middlebury College and specializes

1:14.3

in research on the impact of contraception and abortion policies on economic outcomes

1:22.2

in the United States.

1:23.8

And in this country, we tend to frame the question of abortion around religious or moral

1:30.7

questions or bodily autonomy and stuff like that.

1:33.5

But this is a policy that has enormous economic implications, particularly obviously for

1:39.5

women and particularly for poor women.

1:42.1

Yeah, I think it'll be really interesting to dive in how abortion is an economic issue

...

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