Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia, said "abortion is an economic issue" when asked to comment on former President Barack Obama's recent calls for Democrats to focus on helping voters' worries and financial struggles.
On Pod Save America last week, Obama urged Democrats ahead of the midterms not to focus on what Donald Trump or other Republicans are saying, because "that's probably not something that, in the minds of most voters, overrides their basic interests: Can I pay the rent? How high are gas prices? How am I dealing with childcare?"
Asked about Obama's comments on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Wednesday, Abrams said the former president was "absolutely right." However, she emphasized that abortion is also an economic issue.
"[Abortion has] been reduced to this idea of a culture war," Abrams said. "But for women in Georgia, this is very much a question of whether they're going to end up in poverty in the next five years because women who are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies.
"They're four times more likely to be impoverished within five years. They're twice as likely to be on food stamps. This is an economic issue and it's being reduced to this culture conversation."
In his interview, Obama noted that the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which stripped away constitutional protections for abortion, is another major topic in these midterms.
Many young people, he said, "had never gone through the experience of seeing us go backward on a big issue. And it's a reminder that democracy is fragile. That you have to tend to it, you have to fight for it. And this midterm election, I think, is going to be a moment in which, you know, that battle has to be joined, and that means people have to turn up."
Later in her interview, Abrams was asked what she would do as governor to combat inflation.
"While abortion is an issue, it nowhere reaches the level of interest of voters in terms of the cost of gas, food, bread, milk...what could you do as governor to alleviate the concerns of Georgia voters about those livability, daily, hourly issues that they're confronted with?" MSNBC contributor Mike Barnicle asked.
Abrams replied that "having children is why you're worried about your price for gas, it's why you're concerned about how much food costs."
She continued: "For women, this is not a reductive issue. You can't divorce being forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy from the economic realities of having a child. It's important for us to have both/and conversations. We don't have the luxury of reducing it, or separating them out."
A governor can address the cost of education and "put money into the pockets of everyday hardworking Georgians instead of giving tax cuts to the wealthy," she said.
Women "understand that having a child is absolutely an economic issue," Abrams added. "It is only politicians who see it as simply another cultural conversation."
Alex Floyd, a spokesperson for the Abrams campaign, told Newsweek: "Stacey Abrams wants to make sure women are able to make their own health care decisions on an issue that is deeply personal and can have strong economic implications. Brian Kemp wants to ban abortion even in the case of rape and incest."
Update 10/20/22, 3:45 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include a comment from the Abrams campaign.
Update 10/20/22, 4:35 a.m. ET: This headline and article has been updated throughout.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
