WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's appearance before a Senate committee took a detour into the abortion debate Tuesday when senators questioned her about the potential impact of an abortion ban on the American economy.
"I believe that eliminating the right of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades," Yellen said in response to a question from Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.
Menendez had introduced the topic with a question on how an abortion ban could financially harm women. Yellen said an abortion ban "deprives them of the ability to continue their education" and those impacted are most commonly young Black women.
The line of questioning at the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee came after a Supreme Court draft opinion leaked last week that suggests the court is poised to throw out the Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling.
The hearing also touched on inflation, sanctions imposed on Russia and rising energy costs. Yellen said the U.S. "is focused on everything we can do to bring inflation down."
The abortion issue came up multiple times. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said he disagreed with Yellen's perspective and offered his own economic analysis.
"I look at low birth rates and an aging population," he said, arguing that there are negative economic impacts from abortion.
A number of economic analyses indicate that limitations on access to abortion can negatively affect people financially and in other ways.
Sarah Miller, a researcher at the University of Michigan, wrote a paper with two others on the impact of abortion restrictions.
The trio evaluated data on women who sought abortions at 30 clinics in 21 states but were turned away because they were past the clinics' gestation limit. Two-thirds ended up giving birth.
Committee chair Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, ended the hearing by saying that if Roe v. Wade were overturned, every woman's decision to determine her reproductive future and health would be "handed over to politicians."
"It shouldn't be handed over to me, it shouldn't be handed over to Secretary Yellen and it shouldn't be handed over to Mitch McConnell," he said, referring to the Senate Republican leader.
VOW OF SUPPORT
Sen. Bob Casey Jr. said Tuesday that he would support legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade into law, a shift for one of the few remaining Democrats in Congress with relatively conservative views on abortion rights.
Casey, of Pennsylvania, said he will vote yes to advance debate on the Women's Health Protection Act this week and he will support the bill if there is a vote on its final passage. He added that the "circumstances around the entire debate on abortion" had changed since the House last voted on the bill nearly three months ago.
"In light of the leaked Supreme Court decision draft overturning Roe v. Wade, and subsequent reports that Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate will introduce legislation to enact a nationwide six-week ban, the real question of the moment is: do you support a categorical ban on abortion?" Casey said in a statement. "During my time in public office, I have never voted for -- nor do I support -- such a ban."
The Senate is poised to vote today on advancing the bill, an effort likely to fail because of Republican opposition.
Information for this article was contributed by Fatima Hussein of The Associated Press and by Amy B. Wang, Seung Min Kim, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Mike DeBonis of The Washington Post.