Wealthy Man with Unknown Number of Kids Says People Aren’t Concerned with Costs of Forced Birth

Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker's comments on the state's new abortion ban were incredibly stupid and out of touch.

By Susan Rinkunas  |  July 22, 2022 | 4:15pm
AbortionPolitics
Wealthy Man with Unknown Number of Kids Says People Aren’t Concerned with Costs of Forced Birth
Photo:Megan Varner (Getty Images)

On Wednesday, an appeals court put Georgia’s previously blocked six-week abortion ban into effect—weeks earlier than it was required to do, with advocates calling the action “horrific.” After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, the 2019 law was no longer unconstitutional.

But the Republican nominee in Georgia’s Senate race, Herschel Walker—a former NFL star with a net worth somewhere between $30 million and $65 million and four children that he has acknowledged (so far)—said that voters are more worried about the economy than they are about Georgia’s abortion ban, a law which could force people to have children they aren’t prepared to care for.

Here is a real statement that came out of his mouth when a reporter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked him about the abortion ban:

“You’re going to bring up things that people are not concerned about,” Walker said. “People are concerned about gas, they’re concerned about food. They’re not even talking about that.”

People concerned about the cost of groceries and gas would absolutely be concerned about having another mouth to feed and butt to diaper. And actual research bears out this common-sense deduction: Not being able to afford a baby is one of the top reasons people have abortions. The typical abortion seeker in the U.S. is someone who already has kids and is living on a low income.

Republicans like Walker who want to hammer Biden on inflation but wave away conversations about abortion bans as if they’re not also kitchen table issues are missing the forest for the trees. When it comes to people’s spending power, abortion bans will make the experience of inflation even worse. If someone’s monthly gas, groceries, and rent have increased, that makes them even less able to afford caring for a baby.

Republican abortion bans make inflation worse. Abortion is, unequivocally, an economic issue. Democrats: Feel free to steal this messaging.

 
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