There is more to the abortion bans being promoted by Republicans in Montana’s Legislature than simply a difference on moral or cultural grounds. Republicans have pieced together an entire suite of policies aimed at one goal. That goal is to control and disempower workers by a broad assault on standards of living, access to public services, disenfranchisement at the polls, and limiting access to medical choices. A ban on personal reproductive choice is just one plank in this platform.
On the labor market front policies that ensure weak labor standards, low minimum wages, anti-union positions, restrictions on paid leave, low unemployment insurance, and poor enforcement of job safety all merge to create job insecurity for working class families. Women who are poor and women of color already face high levels of inequities in pay and hiring. Eliminating or restricting the right of women to make decisions on when or whether to have children sets women back decades in the job market and has a damaging effect on the overall economy. Several bills being introduced in this session are directly anti-choice and will lead to more poverty and family crisis.
Underfunded and purposely dysfunctional public services further the stress on working families already living from paycheck to paycheck, and who are literally one short step away from poverty and homelessness. Day care is unaffordable, underfunded and/or non-existent, making the ability of families to have two working parents impossible. Without two incomes home ownership is impossible and even safe and reliable rental housing becomes problematic. Eldercare is also underfunded with facilities closing throughout Montana due to the impossibility of running a business that is being paid less than the cost of supplying services.
