If you have recently been to a restaurant, you may have been asked to wait for a table, even if the restaurant is nearly empty. In this all-too-common scenario, the problem isn’t space, it’s workers — or lack of them. When I visit businesses throughout south central Kansas, nearly every business owner tells me they can’t hire enough staff. Many factors contribute to this shortage, yet current data predicts it will likely get worse — unless we make changes to our culture.
The latest data, from 2022, show that the birthrate in my home state of Kansas is at its lowest point in more than a century, just 11.7 births per 1,000 people. This does not bode well for the workforce once this generation comes of age. Americans, and people around the world, are having fewer children for a variety of reasons, but there is a theme running through them all. Our current culture is simply one that does not value or prioritize life.
However, the overturning of Roe v. Wade two years ago with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision has offered Americans who love and value life the chance to speak to these cultural concerns and shift the conversation to include more than just abortion. As was always the case, people like me who oppose abortion stand for more than just protecting life, we want to support life and see families flourish.
Roe was simply an initial barrier that had to be overcome. Reversing Roe set a floor, not a ceiling, for legislators to enact laws as protective of life as their constituents want. But this also means lawmakers have an even more grave responsibility to craft laws that support life and encourage society to be more friendly to life. It is a blessing that Roe is no longer the law of the land, but supporting life requires so much more than overturning a half-century-old egregious ruling.
While much of the onus is now on the states to pass laws protecting life, there is still a role for the federal government to play. In just the first few weeks of the year my colleagues and I have already considered legislation that would make a tremendous difference to mothers, babies and families, demonstrating how, with the right mindset, every law we write can move the needle closer to a society that allows moms and dads to welcome and celebrate every life.
In the bipartisan, bicameral tax package, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, unveiled this week, Republicans led the way in crafting a Child Tax Credit that ensures families with multiple children receive the same benefit and is responsive to inflation, allowing families to keep more of their hard-earned dollars — which means more money for child care, diapers, groceries and more. The week prior, the Ways and Means Committee, on which I serve, passed the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act, a bill I co-sponsored that blocks part of a proposed Biden administration rule that could restrict pregnant women’s access to maternal care. The proposed rule could have prohibited states from allowing Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) funds to be used by pregnancy resource centers. That bill passed the House Thursday.
At a time when prices are rising thanks to Bidenflation, we should be doing all we can to help parents and families in need, not taking away or limiting the resources available to them.
In the same week, the Education and Workforce Committee, on which I also serve, passed the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act that ensures young moms feel supported and able to pursue their education and motherhood.
All of this legislation will help build a culture of life, and the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act and the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act passed the House Thursday.
Both in Congress and in Kansas, I’ve been committed to building up a culture of life by ensuring there is room for all kinds of life in our society, regardless of ability or characteristics. This Congress I again introduced the Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act, which federally bans doctors from knowingly performing an abortion because a baby received a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Having one more chromosome should never be validation for ending life.
As Kansas state treasurer I worked hard to get the Kansas ABLE Act passed. This important law created tax-free savings accounts for individuals with disabilities to cover expenses like medical care, education, housing and transportation. Similar to 529 education savings accounts, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts, ABLE accounts give people with disabilities a financial tool that helps them live their best life.
As hundreds of thousands of marchers descend on our nation’s capital this week to mark the anniversary of Roe, instead of clamoring for the repeal of Roe they will march to remind Americans of the invaluable worth of an unborn person and that women deserve better than abortion. Through their actions, they are sending a rallying cry to all Americans to foster a culture of life. By all accounts this is a message Americans need to hear, and to which we all need to respond.
Ron Estes, one of only a handful of engineers in Congress, worked in the aerospace, energy and manufacturing sectors before representing Kansas’ 4th District since 2017. He is a fifth-generation Kansan, former state treasurer, and serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, Budget Committee, and Education and the Workforce Committee.
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