A new
theory on the causes of
crime by
John Donohue, a professor of
law at
Stanford University and
Steven Levitt, a
University of Chicago economist.
Basically they looked at
data about when and where women had the most
abortions and found that 15-18 years later the
crime rate in those areas fell proportionately.
They cite the fall in crime in the US through the 19
90s as relating to relaxations in
abortion legislation in the 19
70s and
80s.
In Donohue's words--"
poor,
unmarried, young, low-education women tend to have more abortions. And their kids tend to have higher rates of crime."
Or perhaps simply giving people the
freedom to choose when to have children allows them to take better care of their kids leading to fewer
criminals.
The study has been
attacked as
racist and
genocidal, by both the
left and
right but with any luck some of its finding will get through to
legislators to give them more modern ways of thinking about the
causes of crime.