LETTER: Birthing the workforce not my responsibility

“Women under 40, your work is cut out for you!” Sen. Mike Rounds said during a South Dakota Congressional Delegation townhall on Aug. 16 when connecting today’s workforce shortage to the need for more babies. As a 27-year-old woman, it felt that I alone seemed to see his logic completely ignorant of the current situation. Rounds’ light jab at his hopes for a bolstered population ignored the heavy burden of having children in today’s economy. 

If my senator advises having at least two children, I hope he understands that, on average, hospital costs for an insured woman’s childbirth are almost $3k ($18,865 for uninsured), not including many hidden costs of pregnancy and infant care. He must see the steep decline of OB-GYN access in rural America and the stark maternal mortality rate in South Dakota of 18.7. 

Encouraging women to have babies, my senator surely plans to improve childcare costs and accessibility. According to the Center for American Progress, 43 percent of South Dakotans live in a child care desert, a census tract that has 50 children under age 5 with either no child care providers or three times the amount of children as licensed child care slots. 

LETTER: Thune, Johnson ignore the 'Big Lie'

When my senator pressures young families to procreate, he must know the pressure families face due to compromised air and water. As the federal government continues to prop up the industrial ag complex of factory farms and monoculture cropping, with the EPA holding a blind eye, pollution and contamination will continue without mediation. Of the 9 billion pounds of Nitrogen fertilizer applied to corn fields in the Midwest, 70 percent runs off into creeks and rivers and remains in the groundwater. As nitrates and chemicals compound in our water, exposing a baby to increasing risk of cancer is no small consideration. 

The current South Dakota unemployment rate is the lowest ever recorded at 1.8 percent from June 2023. We don’t have 18 years to wait for the workforce, especially considering the millions of migrant workers that would currently work hard for a well-paying job.

As a South Dakota woman under 40, I'm all-too-aware of the complexities that come with bringing a child into the world. Policies can help improve this situation — policies I hope Senator Rounds considers when chortling about children. Enforcing the Clean Water Act and passing a transformative Farm Bill that supports diversified crops, pasture-based livestock management and well-funded conservation programs are a good place to start. Then, I expect improved plans for immigration, child- and healthcare before Sen. Rounds could ever see a birth announcement from me. 

Megan EisenVos
Sioux Falls