(Guestpost from Drew)
Lately, a couple people have posed the question of whether the government might gain additional revenue by taxing abortions.
I actually tried this idea back in high school – during the YMCA Tennessee Youth Legislature. I wrote a bill to place a significant tax on all abortions. I forget exactly how much I was asking for, but I think it was 30%. During my presentation for the bill, I tried to use phrases like “Big Abortion” and such to dehumanize my targets. I was all set to take down the industry through manipulation of the tax code.
Tragically, my amazing rhetorical talents did not win the day. My bill failed. I remember some Catholic guy got up and denounced me for trying to deal in “blood money,” or some nonsense. And of course, all the hippie liberals likewise rejected my attack on abortion, their beloved sacrament.
You have to admit that it’s a clever idea, though. The Supreme Court won’t let us ban abortions, but it allows us to tax all sorts of things. Let’s push the envelope a bit and see where it leads. Some Republicans in real legislatures seriously oughta try it out. What downside could there be in the attempt? Worst-case-scenario, the liberals might begin to understand an important truth: The power to tax is the power to destroy.
Have you ever checked the Wall Street Journal and the list of DEA stuff that they confiscate from drug busts. It is a full page or 2 every day and they take in a lot of money + cars + guns +. Add it all up and get back to me with the total amount.
It took me a while to understand what you were getting at, but now I see it. Good point!
Isn’t there a danger that the government will get addicted to abortion if it is a money-maker? I mean more addicted than they already are.
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Maybe, but the government isn’t smart enough to understand the Laffer Curve and maximize tax revenue, so they wind up destroying industries instead.