To the editor,

I am pro-life, especially in the personal sense of having held my sister’s and my two small, second trimester, miscarried and dead, but precious baby boys in my hands. I vote Democrat for many reasons, but largely because I know Democrats are willing to expand our nation’s social safety net, including single-payer universal healthcare that saves trillions in bureaucracy and corporate profits.

I’ve compared U.S. abortion rates with those of European countries with strong social safety nets, such as Norway with its single payer universal healthcare, single parent payments, food and housing assistance, yearlong paid maternity leave and shorter mandatory paid paternity leave, paid sick leave, and subsidized childcare and preschool. While U.S. pregnancy support groups help with adoptions and assist women during their pregnancies, the real issue is whether an expectant mother has the choice to keep and raise her child to age 18. Nine months of support just isn’t enough.

While accuracy is difficult in cross-country data, the World Population Review does provide such data on abortion rates, where these are calculated as the number of abortions per 1,000 girls and women aged 15-44.* The rate for the U.S. is 14.4, but in the Nordic countries, e.g., the rates are 12.0 in Denmark, 11.0 in Norway, and 6.5 in Finland. They are even lower in Germany (5.4), Switzerland (5.1), and Italy (4.9).

These numbers tell me if I wish to see lower abortion rates, I should vote for Democrats who will expand our social safety net. They will also more likely oppose capital punishment, offensive wars, and our deadly immigration policy; and support expanded humanitarian assistance to the world’s poor, rather than sending guns and armaments. And while we all know the U.S./Israeli wars on Gaza, Iran and Lebanon are deadly to civilians and raise world gas prices, very few realize the subsequent rising prices of energy, fertilizer, and food threatens millions of poor people with starvation across the developing world. Vote Democrat if you are pro-life.

*World Population Review, 2026, https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/abortion-rates-by-country

Dr. Jacqueline Murray Brux

(Dr. Brux is a development economist specialized in socioeconomic policy, a professor emerita, and the author of many books, textbooks, and blogs.)

Town of River Falls