On September 19, the Fort Collins Coloradoan published a guest opinion credited to Lois Burnett suggesting that "[t]here would have been far less need or opportunity for foreign workers to come [to the United States] illegally" if during the last “34 years, the lives of 45-plus million babies” had not “been terminated by abortion.” The op-ed further stated that, if not for abortion, "[s]ervicemen and women" serving in Iraq “would not have had to return for two or three deployments,” adding, “It's very likely that there would have been far less casualties all around if the United States had the volume of forces needed to rapidly gain and keep control.”

As Colorado Media Matters has noted, Douglas County Republican Party official Rick Murray reportedly made similar assertions at a May 25 GOP breakfast, saying that "[s]ince Roe v. Wade we have flushed 48 million babies down the toilet. So we have these jobs filled with illegal immigrants. Draw your own conclusions."

Burnett was arguing in favor of Senate Bill 351, which would amend Title X of the Public Health Service Act “to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions.” She wrote, “There has been recent (but not new) concern for shortages of farm workers, industry and construction laborers, military recruits, school teachers, and doctors and nurses in rural areas.” Burnett then added, “For 34 years, the lives of 45-plus million babies have been terminated by abortion, babies who would have been these laborers, workers, servicemen and women, teachers, researchers, doctors, nurses, and the list goes on.” She further claimed:

There would have been far less need or opportunity for foreign workers to come here illegally. The masses of illegal immigration to our country have been a bitter pill to swallow. Can one dare to speculate that, in these 34 years, Mexican citizens may have united in their own country, forged positive change and great strides in their own economy and quality of life?

I firmly believe, also, that a heavy deployment of armed forces, had they been available, to Iraq at an early time would have substantially improved their effectiveness and shortened our time in Iraq. Servicemen and women would not have had to return for two or three deployments. It's very likely that there would have been far less casualties all around if the United States had the volume of forces needed to rapidly gain and keep control.

The op-ed concluded with a reference to the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, asserting, “We are all paying a terrible price for one irrespective law of 1973. Let us at least stop financing the rogue Planned Parenthood with our tax monies.”

Media Matters for America has noted similar claims by conservatives including convicted Watergate felon and Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Charles W. Colson. During the April 11, 2006, broadcast of his daily BreakPoint radio commentary, Colson claimed that legalized abortion created a labor shortage, forcing the United States to solicit undocumented workers from other countries to fill jobs that might have otherwise been occupied by the “40 million sacrificed since 1973.”