Dwindling reproductive rights is “single-biggest issue” for economy, Commerce Secretary says

“Reproductive health is on everybody’s mind. That’s going to hurt the economy,” she stated. “You talk about the single-biggest issue, look at workforce participation of women without a college degree.”

As states proceed to enact restrictions to abortion within the fallout of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, questions come up about how compelled births might have an effect on the economic mobility of pregnant people — particularly girls of shade.

“We have to be there for these women to get child care,” Raimondo stated. “You know, child care, health care, skills … train these women so that they’re able to get jobs that are available today and be providing members of the workforce.”

When host Chuck Todd known as Biden’s new executive order a “glorified press release” and questioned what it could actually do for girls’s entry to work, Raimondo recommended he’s utilizing each instrument in his toolbox — however made no guarantees that it could be enough to guard girls’s proper to work.

“A lot of the things that are coming the president’s way, he doesn’t have a silver bullet to solve,” she stated. “I mean, these issues have to be solved by Congress, or in this case, the Supreme Court and Congress.”