By Hilary
White
WASHINGTON,
August 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A book published in June by a leading US economist
in part responds to previous and oft-quoted claims that abortion has been a
significant factor in lowering the U.S. crime rate. The book by John R. Lott of
the American Enterprise Institute, "Freedomnomics," answers claims by
liberal economist Steven Levitt that abortion, in reducing the number of
"unwanted" children, has eliminated significant numbers of the kind
of people who commit crimes.
Lott's 2001
study, "Abortion and Crime: Unwanted Children and Out-of-Wedlock
Births" concluded that legalized abortion has in fact increased the
overall violent crime rate.
"We
find evidence that legalizing abortion increased murder rates by around about
0.5 to 7 percent… Others note that the legalizing of abortion might contribute
to a coarsening of society that might itself lead to more crime."
"Freedomnomics,"
is being called a conservative response to the publication of a manifesto of
liberal political and economic theory by University of Chicago economist Steven
Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner, which topped the 2005
New York Times bestseller list.
"Freakonomics,"
claimed that "legalized abortion may account for as much as one-half of
the overall crime reduction" during the 1990s. This claim was seized upon
by abortion advocates, notably Dr. Henry Morgentaler, Canada's most notorious
abortionist, who claimed it was proof that vindicated their claims and support
for abortion on demand.
The
conclusion that abortion actually tends to increase crime rates coincides with
a study published earlier this year. That study examined data on 237 low-income
women in Baltimore and showed a statistical correlation between abortion and
incidents of child abuse. Published in March in the Internet Journal of
Pediatrics and Neonatology, the study a showed history of abortion is
associated with more frequent acts of physical aggression toward subsequent
children.
Read the
study "Abortion and Crime: Unwanted Children and Out-of-Wedlock
Births" online:
http://lsr.nellco.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&c...