A former abortionist and a pro-life policy expert highlighted the flaws in Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie’s claim that taxpayer-funded abortions for low-income women could save the state money.

Rep. McCluskie, D-Dillon, is one of four Democratic sponsors of Senate Bill 25-183, which would require Colorado residents to fund abortions for women enrolled in Medicaid or the state’s Child Health Plan Plus program. 

“A birth is more expensive than an abortion,” McCluskie claimed during a House Health and Human Services Committee hearing last week. The Colorado House Speaker argued that the bill could lead to cost savings for the state and its Medicaid program due to “the averted births that will not take place.”

According to the bill’s fiscal note, covering the cost of abortion through Medicaid/CHP+ is expected to increase the number of “averted births” by 30%. The figure comes from a study published in June 2019 that analyzed over 200 pregnant women presenting at their first prenatal visits in southern Louisiana. 

The bill’s fiscal note referred to the study as “the only relevant research available measuring the number of Medicaid-eligible adults who would seek an abortion if covered, but could not otherwise pay out-of-pocket for the care.”

Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment. 

Dr. Catherine Wheeler, a former abortionist and retired OB-GYN in Colorado, addressed the Louisiana study cited in the bill’s fiscal note. Wheeler noted that the study actually found that the majority of pregnant women who were not able to obtain Medicaid funding for an abortion expressed confidence that carrying their babies to term was the right decision. 

"To promote induced abortion on the grounds that it's cheaper for the government than childbirth is to demonstrate a heartbreakingly myopic attitude toward the value of Coloradans' lives,” Wheeler told The Christian Post. 

“Of course, it is cheaper in the short term for the state to kill a preborn child rather than support her and her mother through childbirth and the very vulnerable first few years of her life,” the retired doctor said. “But any society should recognize that caring for mothers as they raise the next generation is a worthy investment,” she added. 

Wheeler, who serves as president of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Colorado chapter, also cited a Charlotte Lozier Institute study published in the Cureus medical journal in January 2023. 

The study from the pro-life research organization found that over 60% of the women interviewed who had abortions reported high levels of pressure to abort from multiple sources, and those same women were associated with higher levels of mental health and quality of life issues. 

“Low-income Colorado women, the majority of whom desire their babies, deserve a government that will unconditionally support their pregnancies, not push them toward termination to save money for the state,” Wheeler stated. 

Melanie Israel, a visiting fellow at the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., said the Colorado House speaker's comments made at the committee hearing were an example of what happens “when bad ethics meets bad economics.” 

“The state won’t save money by aborting some of its future residents,” the visiting fellow at the conservative think tank told CP. “Unborn children’s future contributions — over the course of many decades — matters.” 

Israel highlighted a June 2022 congressional Joint Economic Committee report that found “the costs of abortion vastly outweigh any claimed benefits.” The report analyzed the argument from economists and then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that abortion restrictions reportedly damage the economy by supposedly making it harder for women to balance their careers and families.

Republicans who were on the committee at the time estimated that the cost of abortion in 2019 was at least $6.9 trillion, or 32% of Gross Domestic Product. According to the Republicans’ estimate, the economic cost of abortion is “425 times larger than the earnings loss mothers would be expected to incur when having a child.” 

The pro-life policy expert also emphasized the value of human life, asserting that a “healthy culture” would try to ensure everyone has a chance to flourish, regardless of their circumstances or stage of development. 

“Supporting babies — and their moms and families — won’t just help Colorado’s economy, it will help its culture, too,” Israel stated. 

“Family-friendly policies that encourage marriage, healthy relationships, and parenting will do more to address issues like poverty than taxpayer-subsidized abortion ever can,” she added. “Let’s hope Colorado policymakers shift their focus toward helping families flourish, not paying mothers to abort their children.”

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