GOP Rep. Goodlatte: Abortion Restrictions Create More Jobs

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) argued Wednesday afternoon that legislating against abortion can boost the economy by creating more jobs.

The remarks came during a Judiciary Committee mark-up of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would extend a ban on federal funds for abortions (except in cases of rape, incest, and mother’s life) and impose a penalty on women and small businesses who purchase a private healthcare plan that includes abortion coverage.

Critics of the legislation have said it “does not create a single job,” prompting Goodlatte’s response, as captured by The Huffington Post:

I would suggest that it is very much the case that those of us in the majority support this legislation because it is the morally right thing to do, but it is also very very true that having a growing population and having new children brought into the world is not harmful to job creation. It very much promotes job creation for all the care and services and so on that need to be provided by a lot of people to raise children.

As the committee debated the bill on Wednesday, several female members of the House Pro-Choice Caucus staged a protest out in the hallway.

Watch video of the Virginia Republican’s remarks below:

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