Abortion = less crime?

[RacersEdge]

Just reading Freakonomics and I find it very interesting. The author talked about the decline in crime since 1995. A lot of people attribute it to better police enforcement or the better economy of the late 1990s. But the author claims it was due to Roe v Wade in 1972. Those babies from that time would be hitting their crime peak about now - and the women who seek abortions are more likely to come from an environemt that would tend to produce criminals.

Great analysis IMO.

My stance is that abortion is wrong on the premise that killing a human is wrong, but I find some comfort in the fact that the entire institution is and will remain atheist liberals killing off atheist liberals.

[etgryphon]

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My stance is that abortion is wrong on the premise that killing a human is wrong, but I find some comfort in the fact that the entire institution is and will remain atheist liberals killing off atheist liberals.

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Wow...

A glass-half-full kind of guy...

-Gryph

[DVaut1]

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Wow...

A glass-half-full kind of guy...

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nh...

I was going to say something along the lines of "tell us what you really think".


But seriously, that position sounds a little contradictory - "I'm against abortion because it's the killing of a human" (okay, sounds good so far) / "except I don't mind abortion so much, depending on who's being aborted" (this part seems to contradict the former).

[mrgold]

Abortion allowed poor women the choice to have fewer kids later in their life and therefore provide better for those kids. I am not surprised that those kids were less likely to be criminals.

When does life begin? answer this with evidence, not opinion. If you cannot, we may be killing up to 1.5 million humans a year. If they are not alive, then nothing bad has happened.

[TomCollins]

Why don't we just execute petty criminals as well. I mean, they are more likely to commit more serious crimes than someone who has not been convicted of a crime.

[mrgold]

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When does life begin? answer this with evidence, not opinion. If you cannot, we may be killing up to 1.5 million humans a year. If they are not alive, then nothing bad has happened.

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I've always felt like this question does not matter. Why is it you don't want me to kill you? Is it because you are alive now and would not want to have to be painfully killed? Or is it because you would not want to miss out on the opportunities of the rest of your life? I'd think the later because the pain of death is nothing compared to the joy of life. Bringing up a child is a great and benevolent act, but the choice not to do this is only marginaly different from the choice to have an abortion in my opinion.

I haven't read the book yet, but each time I hear this I remember my stats teachers repeating "correlation is not causation". So, are there statistics to back this up? Example, previously high crime areas that coincided with high abortion rates in the years discussed, followed by lower crime rates today? Or is just the idea talked about? It is interesting at how quickly this thread devolved from topic discussion to the morality issue of abortion (which I'm sure there is a thread for if people want further debate).

[BCPVP]

Round 2, Dvault1? Just kidding. I don't think that topic could be discussed any more than it was.

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Abortion allowed poor women the choice to have fewer kids later in their life and therefore provide better for those kids.

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You mean, before abortion came around, women had no choice in having kids later in life? I know that's probably not what you meant, but I don't suppose that just not [censored] when they can't afford it may better alternative, wouldn't it? Unless your argument is that we should be able to do whatever we want and not have any consequences...

To the OP, if stopping crime is the goal, then why not sterilze all those who might be at risk of having offspring that will commit crimes? Nip it in the bud!