Abortion and the Dropping Crime Rate

Economist Steven Levitt finds an interesting correlation between the legalization of abortion and the plummeting crime rate:

Back in 1999, Mr. Levitt was trying to figure out why crime rates had fallen so dramatically in the previous decade. He was struck by the fact that crime began falling nationwide just 18 years after the Supreme Court effectively legalized abortion. He was struck harder by the fact that in five states crime began falling three years earlier than it did everywhere else. These were exactly the five states that had legalized abortion three years before Roe v. Wade.

Did crime fall because hundreds of thousands of prospective criminals had been aborted? Once again, the pattern by itself is not conclusive, but once again Mr. Levitt piles pattern on pattern until the evidence overwhelms you. The bottom line? Legalized abortion was the single biggest factor in bringing the crime wave of the 1980s to a screeching halt.

That's a great idea for a slogan for the pro-abortion fanatics like NOW; "Thanks to us, the crime rate is down". It's kind of a bastardized Darwinism.

More great news about abortion can be found at James Taranto's site.