Biden Economic Adviser: Overturning Roe Will Hurt People in Red States, Damage the Economy

White House economics adviser Jared Bernstein argued that overturning Roe v. Wade and rolling back abortion rights would have dire financial consequences, including for red states.

Bernstein gave an interview to CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Thursday, who pressed him over President Joe Biden’s struggling economic numbers and the possibility of an oncoming recession. At one point, Keilar asked about the uproar over Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked Supreme Court opinion in order to ask Bernstein what it might mean for the economy.

Bernstein said his research tells him that “when you deny access to reproductive rights in general, but abortion rights in particular to women, they have persistently worse economic outcomes.

“Financially, it’s like losing a job,” he continued. “It’s like being evicted, it’s like losing health insurance, it’s like going to the hospital in terms of its impact on their finances.”

Bernstein insisted that all conventional indicators of financial health are “significantly damaged when we restrict access to abortion,” especially for younger women and women of color. This prompted Keilar to ask if red states would see a bigger economic hit, given the number of states with “trigger laws” to restrict abortion right away if Roe is overturned.

“Certainly, I would expect [that],” Bernstein answered, saying that abortion restrictions would disproportionately hurt poor people who couldn’t afford to travel out of state if they want to have an abortion.

“If you are a wealthy person in a place without access, you can probably get yourself to a place where you can access an abortion,” he said. “All of these costs will fall most severely on those who are unable to access abortion should Roe come down.”

Watch above, via CNN.