Legacy Part 3

Today is Part 3 of the 4-part blog series about the legacy we are leaving for our children and grandchildren.  The question I posed in part 1 was “What impact does the single issue of abortion have on our nation?”  So far we have covered the war in Iraq and immigration and border control.  Today let’s look at social security and the economy. 

Bottom line – in coming years, there will be more people taking out of social security then paying in. Why? See abortion numbers and baby boomer retirements from Legacy Part 2. Using an extremely conservative number based on only 1 million abortions annually and an annual salary at poverty threshold, there would have been an additional $38 billion paid into Social Security Insurance (SSI) in 2008. Now this is only a down payment on what the shortfall will be but it is a beginning. The cumulative additional revenue since 1991, the year Americans aborted in 1973 would be 18, paid into to SSI would be $311 billion in 2008.

You may be saying, “I know, Becky, but what about the additional burden because these are ‘welfare babies’?” Over 85% of abortions are performed on women living above the poverty threshold and over 50% are at least three times over the poverty threshold. (1)  On the flip side of this, how many workers would need to be hired because of the need for millions of more diapers, baby food, formula, etc. that would need to be produced each year? How many teachers, nurses, bus drivers, pediatricians would have jobs today if a million more American babies were born each year? How much impact will there be on the economy as these workers spend money in other sectors of society? How would Detroit be doing today if a million more Americans turned sixteen each year? We will never know. Grandmother in Ohio – abortion affects you. Farmer in Iowa – abortion affects you. College student in California – abortion affects you. Steel worker in Pennsylvania – abortion affects you. Retiree in Florida – abortion affects you. Married or single; rich or poor; black or white; right wing or left wing – abortion affects you.

Join me next week as I wrap up my thoughts concerning abortion and the impact on our future generations.

(1) Jones, Rachel; Darroch, Jacqueline and Henshaw, Stanley.  “Patterns in the Socioeconomic Characteristics of Women Obtaining Abortions in 2000-2001.” Guttmacher. September/October 2002. Guttmacher Institute. 6 September 2008 http://tiny.cc/0jjE2.