When the world’s population reached seven billion earlier this month, it came with the realization that overpopulation may be a very real threat. On a planet with limited resources and huge income disparities, adding more people inevitably means adding more hunger, more pollution and more expenses. Yet Republicans seem to be hellbent on increasing the US population, consequences be damned.

A recently proposed amendment to the state constitution seeks to define the beginning of life as the moment of conception, effectively making abortion illegal. Rep. Andre Jacque, R-Bellevue, has pushed the “personhood” amendment despite the fact that similar legislation in ultra-conservative Mississippi was recently voted down by the state’s citizens.

While the amendment’s definition of a person as “a human being in any stage of development” makes it clear that abortion of any kind would be illegal, it could also be interpreted to outlaw contraceptives, birth control, stem cell research and even in vitro fertilization. Should any of these interpretations be upheld, all hell will break loose.

It is impossible to know how many more births there would be if contraceptives or birth control were outlawed, but considering that 84 percent of women used a contraceptive during premarital sex between 2005 and 2008, the number is sure to be astounding. The numbers on abortion, the least popular form of birth control, should put things in perspective.

In the U.S., about 1 in 5 pregnancies result in abortion. Were all states to pass amendments similar to those proposed in Wisconsin and Mississippi, there would be roughly 1.3 million more births each year. Under the proposed amendment, some of these births would have been the result of rape and some would result in the death of the mother. Rep. Jacque has made it clear there would be no abortions, no exceptions.

The U.S. cannot handle 1.3 million more babies a year. It can barely handle the people it has now. The Occupy Wall Street movement illustrated the widening income gap, but the recent collapse of the deficit talks means that mandated cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security will turn the gap into a gaping abyss. Yet Republicans feel that those cuts to welfare were not deep enough.

Gov. Scott Walker has pledged to slash $554 million from Medicaid, a move that would leave 65,000 people uninsured. The state’s unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in October, the same rate as in October 2010. Roughly 827,000 Wisconsinites rely on food stamps, and there are many more whom the state can’t afford to feed. For many state residents, just getting by is a challenge. Yet instead of ensuring that Wisconsin residents have a good life, Republicans like Rep. Jacque would rather ensure more Wisconsin residents have life, period.

Protecting the lives of all people is an admirable thing, but there is a huge logical flaw when you have to literally change the definition of “people” to do so. Issues like abortion are rarely thought of in rational or logical terms, and for many it may seem crass to think of populations in economic terms. But those who staunchly oppose abortion must be reminded of the context in which abortions take place.

Preventing an abortion may save the life of a child from the outset, but it does absolutely nothing for the child after they are born. Forty-two percent of women who have abortions have incomes below the poverty level, but those who fought so hard to make sure that baby was born simply fade out of the picture, not sticking around to see if the child is fed, loved or safe. Many of those who fought so hard for that birth are also fighting hard to make sure their tax dollars don’t go to feed or provide health care for that child.

We cannot seek to ban abortion while simultaneously cutting welfare. We cannot seek to ban abortion when 925 million people in the world live in hunger. We cannot seek to ban abortion when over a billion children already live in poverty. Jacque’s proposed amendment is simply irresponsible in a time where we cannot take care of the people we already have. It is only by looking past ideology that we can begin to truly “save” lives.

Allegra Dimperio ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism.