Is there a link between abortion and crime ?

[IrishArmenian]

No. No. No. No. What could possibly makes somone think this. I might as well ask how large the link between mince-meat pies and terrorism. Nothing.

[Keba]

Most of you seem to be confusing correlation and causality ... one of my teachers usually said, when referring to correlation, that there is a correlation between the number of ice-creams sold and the number or rapes commited, but does that mean that the two are connected?

Generally speaking, abortion is a form of eugenics, a mild one and not nearly as extreme as other proposed (and attempted) forms, but it is eugenics nevertheless, however, so is birth control and all other things connected to preventing conception. Think of it as selection pressure, if you will.

I've already pointed out in another thread my opinions on the banning abortion thing, to put it short, it lowers the number of children their parents' wouldn't love and that wouldn't end up on a street. Thus, in a way, yes, it does reduce crime. I doubt it is the cause of the lowering crime rates, but a major factor in it, certainly. Remember, there are fewer people being born, thus, fewer people with the capacity for crime.

[Samurai Waki]

No. No. No. No. What could possibly makes somone think this. I might as well ask how large the link between mince-meat pies and terrorism. Nothing.

Oh. I think you can terrorise people after eating a minced meat pie

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Zorba, that's a completely flawed analogy.

So are we agreed that getting rid of the unwanted is a noble endeavor? Let's start with the elderly and mentally handicapped next, right? Some guy about 60 years ago tried it, and we still have the plans!

[mercian billman]

Zorba, that's a completely flawed analogy.

So are we agreed that getting rid of the unwanted is a noble endeavor? Let's start with the elderly and mentally handicapped next, right? Some guy about 60 years ago tried it, and we still have the plans!

It's not a good thing, but if woman who are more likely to produce criminals, due to the enviroment their children are raised in, decide to have abortions, it makes sense that the crime rate will go down. Another way for the crime rate to have gone down, would be if these women chose to place their children into adoption, which didn't happen. When Roe vs Wade was inacted in 1973 approx. 8% of premarital births were placed into adoption, by 1995 it was 2%. From these statistics we could theorize that not only did Roe vs Wade, lead to a decrease in crime, it also led to a decrease in adoption.

[Reverend Joe]

Zorba, that's a completely flawed analogy.

How? Seriously, what if the sperm you eliminate earlier in the day would have impregnated a woman later that night? And why is stopping an egg from being fertilized not exactly like removing that same egg alter on?

You know, that is exactly how the anti-abortion lobby began in the first place. Accept all children GOD sends you. As if GOD is concerned with each and every woman's uterus.

[Xiahou]

How? Seriously, what if the sperm you eliminate earlier in the day would have impregnated a woman later that night? And why is stopping an egg from being fertilized not exactly like removing that same egg alter on?

I hesitate to answer here, but I assume your question is sincere.... The difference between a fertilizaed egg and a lone sperm or unfertilized egg is obvious. Alone, they are indeed just another cell in your body, however, once the egg is fertilized it has it's own DNA which is completely distinct from either the mother or father and it will never exist again. At that point it has everything it needs to develop into an adult- hair color, eye color, height, and many other attributes are already decided.

Hard to see how we can get very far into it without getting into statistical gobbledygook.

Like I said, if they only used total arrests and not arrests per 100,000 or whatever it's easy for me to see how it could skew data based on population growth. No gobbledygook needed for that. The link was mainly to illustrate that their correlation is not a given and that there are many statisticians who claim to find fault with it.

For my part, even if there is correlation I dont really care. As others have pointed out, correlation is not causation. Therefore, the Freakonomics assertion is without basis imo.

[rory_20_uk]

The egg can theoreticll make it to a human.

If it implants. Many fail to do so.
Those that do have on average a 1 in 3 chance of aborting. Sometimes this happens so early the woman never knows she was pregnant.

If you analyse a given amount of data eventually you'll get a grouping that you want.

If a computer fires dots completely randomly at a background there will be grouping, and one can then blow these up into "hotspots" of whatever it happens to be.

[Claudius the God]

I remember reading about how many thousands of Irish girls and women travel from Ireland to the U.K. where they can get a legal abortion...