New Book, "Freedomnomics" says Abortion Increases Crime Rate

LifeSiteNews ^ | 8/10/07 | Hilary White

[wagglebee]

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...

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Abortion Linked to Higher Rates of Child Abuse, Study Finds
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07031301.html

Media Ignoring Study Saying Abortion Increases Crime
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2001/sep/01091005.html

Study Linking Abortion and Lower Crime Rates Published
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2001/may/01051702.html

Experts Debunk Donohue/Levitt Study Connecting Abortion and Crime
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2001/may/01053005.html

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[BreezyDog]

Isn’t that the opposite of what the book Freakonomics proposed?

[wagglebee]

Yes.

[G8 Diplomat]

Well no duh it increases the crime rate...it increases the murder rate.

[Stepan12]

I'm reading it now and I've read the eugenics of "Freakonomics" as regards the abortion issue. "Freaknomics" is wrong.

As "Freedomnomics explains, what brought down the crime rate was the death penalty, longer prison sentences, and concealed carry laws.

[llevrok]

It seems a decent hypothesis that abortion has cheapened life hence more violent crime

I used to say that the only thing good about abortion is that is gives us one less future liberal. However the damn things seem to be increasing exponentially!

[NittanyLion]

"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.

I read Freakonomics. I found nothing in there that would lead me to believe it was a "manifesto of liberal political and economic theory". On the contrary, I thought it was well written and thought-provoking. When it touched on political issues the authors went out of their way not to add too much social commentary.

[BreezyDog]

Sorry, I posted before I read it.

[bert]

Irresponsible crackhead fathers have to come up with the money for the abortion or the girls get pissed. Once the word gets around he won’t fess up, all his girls cut him off.

He has to go steal something to pay for the abortion.

[paltz]

For the sake of argument, even IF abortion brought down the crime rate:

A) That was far from the original intention of Pro-Abortionists

B) Who made the abortionists god and choose who would be a violent criminal and who wouldn't?...More innocents STILL were killed in the process

[Antoninus]

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. Blacks, Latinos, and "White trash".

Just fixing it so that we can see what he meant to say. Ain't the left just full of sweethearts?

[BreezyDog]

I don’t know... Didn’t the theory on cheating in Sumo wrestling is fostered by the way ranking and scoring system is set up kind of remind you of the way all of the entitlement programs in the USA and other more socialist countries foster lazyness and unwillingness to compete.

Just kidding. Kind of.

[Sherman Logan]

Well, given the higher rates of both abortion and crime among black Americans, there does seem to be some statistical merit to the idea.

I’m quite opposed to aborting anybody, but it does seem that the lower socio-economic groups seem to have more abortions.

[Bladerunnuh]

If abortion were outlawed tomorrow, imagine all the people who would be out of work. First, the doctors and nurses who perform the procedures, then there are the men and women who work at the factories to make the clamps, garbage bags, and vacuum-brain-suckee-thingees and how are they going to put food on their tables?

[ArrogantBustard]

However the damn things seem to be increasing exponentially!

They don't breed ... they recruit and indoctrinate. That's what public schools are for ... MSM is for reinforcing the indoctrination.

[ArrogantBustard]

They can prostitute themselves ... it’s what they do already,

[fred4prez]

I’m fully against all forms of abortion, but Steven Levitt does make an excellent case for the theory that abortion does ultimately lower violent crime rates. His analysis of data seemed spot on, yet in his defense, I really don’t think he was advocating it - just making a point about unintended consequences. I’ll be really curious how this new book treats the data.

[Sherman Logan]

Lots of abortions happened. Violent crime rates went down 15 to 20 years later.

The problem with this analysis is that a whole lot of other things also happened. Isolating the effects of abortion as compared to the other huge changes in our society during this period seems to me to be an insurmountable challenge.