Abortion and
the U.S. Crime RatePreviously, I've given examples of stories that, while true, the public — some of the public, at least — didn't want publicized.
Here's an example.
The Chicago Tribune reports that there is a general feeling among criminal law experts and economists that the legalization of abortion in the 1970s has been responsible for a significant drop in U.S. crime.
Some say that abortions account for about half of the overall drop in crime from 1991 to 1997...
...and they call the evidence backing it up "compelling."
It's only logical when you think about it.
The women whose children were most likely to commit crimes, had abortions and, thus, did not bring these unwanted children into the world to grow up and prey on society.
Even so, we are still seeing large numbers of unwanted births.
Figures released in February of 2000 indicate that only 39% of black women's pregnancies result in wanted births. For white and Hispanic women the figure is about 60%.
Is society not seeing the effects of large numbers of unwelcome children?
So does that make abortions a good thing?
Not at all.
But it does point up the need for sex education and the encouragement of free, long-term birth control (shots, skin implants, etc.) for those who want them...
..unfettered by a profusion of objections from various well-meaning, well-funded, but misguided organized religions.
Providing free birth control products and information for women would not only reduce abortions, but would save society untold grief and expense...
...including the expense required to house more and more criminals in penal institutions...
...that appear do them more harm than good.
The families that are least able to care for children have the most children...
...while the families that are best able to care for, raise and educate children, have the fewest.
The reason is largely centered on the use of birth control — that major "sin."
I wonder what the biggest sin really is...
...bringing children into a world where they aren't wanted, can't be adequately fed, clothed, or educated and will cause major problems for society...
...or using birth control?
By 2100, we'll look back on this foolishness in the same way we now look at the "world is flat and the center of the universe" foolishness that was so dogmatically proclaimed by these same types in an earlier era.
