Pro-life advocates might be surprised to realize that a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris is effectively the best pro-life option in this year’s presidential election. Although Harris has never wavered from her support for women to make decisions regarding their bodies, she has also published a pro-family agenda with concrete policies that will preserve human life. Though former President Donald Trump brags about giving states control over abortion, in reality, that plan has led to higher abortion rates and higher rates of maternal morbidity and mortality.
Many Americans assumed the abortion rate in America would decline once Roe v. Wade was overturned by a conservative majority on the Supreme Court in 2022 — especially after 14 states banned abortion with limited exceptions and seven others enacted restrictive laws that same year. But abortion rates actually increased by 11% in 2023, and abortion numbers are at their highest in more than a decade. Restricting abortion has not lowered the rate; instead it has endangered women’s lives.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Although U.S. abortion rates increased, women in states with abortion bans also had more difficulty accessing legal abortion and timely medical care. The first documented “preventable death” occurred less than two months after the Supreme Court’s decision when Amber Nicole Thurman’s doctors delayed emergency care, waiting 20 hours before performing a necessary surgery. Thurman developed septic shock, and her condition deteriorated. She died just weeks after Georgia’s six-week abortion ban.
Though Trump’s plan to increase barriers to abortion has not decreased abortion rates, Harris’ pro-family policies are much more likely to help women and families choosing to welcome a child when faced with unintended pregnancy. Nearly three-quarters of women who undergo abortion cite financial reasons. Increasing access to health care, child care and economic opportunity is a more effective way to reduce women seeking abortion. In her 82-page policy book, “A New Way Forward for the Middle Class,” Harris outlines practical strategies for growing our economy, with concrete plans for how to “lower costs for families … cut taxes for working people … lower food and grocery costs … lower health care costs.” She is ready to build an opportunity economy that will increase affordable housing and create “security and opportunity for workers.” Harris plans to increase the tax credit for families with children, raising it to $6,000 for families with newborns, to help offset the expenses of diapers, clothes, car seats, and other essentials.
Harris has also pledged to lower the cost of high-quality child care and preschool for young children. The average price of child care in 2023 was $11,582 per child, a number out of reach for many working families who rely on alternative resources such as Head Start. The Project 2025 agenda, written in part by Trump’s former staffers, would cut funding for child care and eliminate Head Start, which makes up 22% of the overall childcare supply in rural areas.
Many women facing unintended pregnancies and working families cannot afford Trump’s plan for the economy. Though inflation peaked at 9.1% in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it is nearly back to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Sixteen Nobel Prize-winning economists signed a letter in June warning that Trump’s proposals to increase tariffs would “reignite” inflation: “We believe that a second Trump term would have a … destabilizing effect on the U.S.’s domestic economy.” Last month, the Peterson Institute for International Economics published a working paper, “The international economic implications of a second Trump presidency,” predicting a sharp rise in consumer prices about two years into his second term. According to the Peterson analysis, inflation would worsen drastically, rising in 2026 to between 6% and 9.3% instead of 1.9% otherwise. Growing families cannot afford to see prices of groceries, clothes and child care go through the roof. When facing unintended pregnancies, even more women will feel that they can’t afford another child.
The Harris-Walz plan offers a vital solution for women facing unintended pregnancies by addressing key economic challenges. By reducing inflation, enhancing financial security and making child care affordable, this plan increases the likelihood that many women will choose to continue their pregnancies. Voting for Harris is a commitment to saving lives — both women’s and their unborn children’s. Because restricting access to abortion has failed to lower abortion rates while endangering women’s lives, voting for Trump can no longer be considered pro life. Harris recognizes the value of women’s lives and will foster an economy that empowers women to support their families. Instead of increasing barriers to abortion, why not decrease barriers to keeping a child?
Susan Kraus is a family physician who loves caring for pregnant women, delivering babies and promoting the health of all family members.
About the Author
