Children who would have been born in the pregnancies had they not been aborted would have been ages 18 to 24 in this decade. They also found that five states that legalized abortion in the three years before the Supreme Court decision experienced drops in property crimes, violent crimes, and murder before other states. They also found that places with high abortion rates in the 1970s experienced greater drops in the crime rate in the 1990s, even when accounting for a wide range of forces that influence crime, such as income, racial composition and incarceration levels. They conclude from the data that legalized abortion may explain as much as half of the overall crime reduction. Reaction to the study has been predictable.
Liberals call it racist while conservatives say it s merely an attempt to justify abortion.
Frankly, I think the study deserves more scrutiny and less name-calling. These are respected scholars who were tracing down reasons for a drop in crime in the 1990s. If the study is valid, then the pro-life community needs to think through the implications of the research and consider its impact on making a case against abortion. I m Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that s my opinion. Probe Ministries International Kerby Anderson is the president of Probe Ministries International.