Senators Divided on Connection Between Abortion and the Economy

Demonstrators gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, a case about a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, in Washington on Dec. 1, 2021. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

News Analysis

Abortion may seem an unlikely topic for the Senate Committee on the Budget to tackle, but Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said in his opening statement that “reproductive rights ... are intrinsically tied to economic opportunity.”