…both are hot topics in the political landscape, and you may wonder how they’re related. My goal here is to help you understand more about how and why the choice to reproduce or not is so important, and to learn more about what you can do.
The importance of birth rates
Birth rates are important because they impact population growth and the availability of workers who participate in the economy. Over time, low birth rates lead to fewer people contributing to the American welfare system via taxes and increased social security costs.
The idea is that if people continue to reproduce and create American workers (you know, “productive members of society”), they will continue to work and pay into the system that will eventually support their parents.
Other factors that impact contribution to welfare and social security include federal policies that impact the caps on income that is taxed by social security. Currently, income over $176,100 is not taxed, and doesn’t contribute to social security and welfare. The majority of earners in the U.S. do not earn this much income, so they’re paying into the system continuously.
According to an article in Forbes “If federal policy makers raised the cap on the maximum earnings subject to Social Security taxes, and included more income — interest, business receipts, capital gains — in the definition of earnings (like Medicare does), we could close the solvency gap. Taxing the expanded base could more than pay for promised Social Security benefits for 35 years and there would even be some money to eliminate poverty among all Social Security recipients.”
Thus, continued lower birth rates might force changes in policy that mean that higher earning individuals have to pay more into Social Security and welfare systems.
Fertility Changes and Supreme Court Involvement
From 2014 to 2020, the general fertility rate consistently decreased by 2% annually. This caused an increase in concerns about a shrinking workforce. In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating federal support for a woman’s right to decide to have an abortion or not. Remember, the senators we vote for are responsible for confirming Supreme Court justices.
According to a study by Columbia University, in the first month after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, sterilization rates in all states increased. Other studies show that after the Supreme Court decision, the rate of sterilization leapt from 1 to 60.8 procedures per 100,000 person-months for women and from 1 to 28 per 100,000 person-months for men.
In February 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court declared that frozen embryos are "unborn children" and can be the subject of wrongful death lawsuits. This puts family planning clinics at risk of lawsuits should anything unplanned (i.e. fires) occur and lead to the accidental destruction of embryos. Regulations like these may force clinics to shut down, thus limiting access to IVF and other family planning services (including providing birth control).
Track state legislation and litigation regarding abortion rights
Continued Resistance
With fears about access to birth control dwindling, many Americans have begun to turn to sterilization procedures to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Options include tubal ligation (aka “getting tubes tied”) and vasectomies. Tubal ligation is a permanent form of birth control, preventing pregnancies by blocking, clipping, or removing the fallopian tubes. This is not reversible. The process takes about 30 minutes and costs range from $0 to $6000, depending on your insurance. Recovery can take up to a month, with possible issues with pain and vaginal bleeding lasting anywhere from a week to a month, and changes to the menstrual cycle and bowel habits. Vasectomies take from 10-30 minutes and the cost ranges from $350-$1000, depending on insurance. Recovery from a vasectomy lasts from 3-7 days and can be managed with ice packs and pain medication. Vasectomies are reversible.
No states require you to have children before tubal ligation, although for those with state-funded medical assistance there’s an age requirement - you have to be at least 21. The decision to follow through with this procedure is up to the doctor’s discretion. There is no age limit for a vasectomy.
The CDC has found that the general fertility rate in the United States decreased by 3% from 2022, reaching a historic low. It may be reasonable to expect that should birth rates continue to decline, there will be more attempts to legislate individuals’ reproductive choices.
Public and Political Opinions on Contraceptive Access
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