Claim: George Akerlof's idea in the late 1990s has attracted the attention of some on both sides of the debate over legal abortion, which may result as safer than childbirth, that has a 14 times higher risk of death in the United States; additionally, he has described it as a phenomenon labeled "reproductive technology shock."
Evidence: In the late 1990s Akerlof's ideas attracted the attention of some on both sides of the debate over legal abortion. In articles appearing in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, The Economic Journal, and other forums Akerlof described a phenomenon that he labeled "reproductive technology shock." It is safer than childbirth, which has a 14 times higher risk of death in the United States.