Abortion - The Greatest Crime Lowering Factors In American History”?
I was recently in an airport when I purchased a copy of the NY times best seller “Freakonomics”. This book was written by economist Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner. Since its 2005 release it’s sold more than 4 million copies and been published in 35 languages. From Time magazine to the Washington Post this book has gotten rave reviews. The San Francisco Weekly exclaims “I can’t think of a single adult I know who wouldn’t enjoy reading it”. All this praise seems disturbing in light of the appalling thoughts expressed in its pages. Namely their proposal, that abortion could be considered “one of the greatest crime-lowering factors in American history”.
The 4th chapter “Where have all the criminal’s gone”?, opens with the story of former communist dictator Nicoale Ceausescu and the ban he put on abortion in Romania during 1966. Romania’s birth rate doubled after this ban was put in place. The writer’s state that the babies born after this ban tested lower in schools, had less success in the labor market and proved more likely to become criminals. They compare the Romanian abortion story to the American crime story in the 1990’s. They look at the decrease in crime in the 1990’s in various states and question the possible factors that lead to it. Was it tougher gun control laws, increased number of police, the effect of a strong economy?
After shooting down those theories, they propose a new thought. Perhaps the decrease in crime is connected to the increase in abortions in those states. Particularly among African-Americans who they state commit a disproportionate amount of felonies and have the highest imprisonment rates. They quote a study that says the typical child who went unborn in the earliest years of legalized abortion would have been 50 percent more likely than average to live in poverty and 60% more likely to grow up with one parents- factors which predict a child will likely have a criminal future. They plainly state “The factors that drove millions of women to abort seemed to predict that their children, had they been born, would have lead unhappy and possibly criminal lives.” (pg 139, Where have all the criminals gone?)
They claim a “private sadness has been converted into a public good”
While these may seem like new shocking thoughts to us, they are nothing more than old racist ideas resurfacing in the 21st century. “The less blacks, the better our society”, where have I heard that before? Margaret Sanger said that when she began promoting birth control and sterilization as a means to rid the nation of “undesirables”. She wanted to bring about black genocide -- and in many ways she has.
Aside from the blatant racism found in this argument is the arrogance that presumes we can determine the life a child will have based solely on socio-economic factors. Yes, the environment you are born in will have an influence upon your life. But who can truly say what that influence will lead to? Some people overcome the hardships of life and rise above the ashes from which they came. Take my life for example. I was born to a black single mother. I was almost aborted- my mother walked out of a hospital minutes before her scheduled appt. Aside from a few lollipops I stole from my neighborhood drugstore, I have never committed a crime. Nor do I have a life that is unhappy or dissatisfied. I am happy to be alive. I finished college, I am in full time ministry, I have a community of friends and family that I adore. I am living out my dreams, dreams which would have been lost if my mother had aborted me.
So Mr. Levitt and Mr. Duber, I disagree. I speak on behalf of millions of black children who have been aborted and I disagree. Who knows the potential their lives held? Only God alone. The killing of over 1.5 million black children has in no way been a benefit to the American society. It has been a curse. Just like slavery was a blemish on the pages of America’s history, so abortion will also be. We need to stand in repentance for the killing of millions of black children. We must ask God to reveal the hidden racist roots of abortion and raise up voices for life among the black community.
About the Author
Christina Martin is the director of Bound4Life Atlanta and an intercessory missionary at the International House of Prayer Atlanta. For the past 4 years Christina has given herself to the occupation of intercession. It’s her full time job to stand before heaven and earth, God and man, asking for mercy and crying out for truth. She prays, God hears, He moves, She is happy.
Christina is committed to fighting for the unborn. She feels for them because she herself had an appointment to die. Literally. 28 years ago her mother was sitting in a hospital room, waiting for the abortion doctor to call her into his office. An elderly black janitor saw her mom crying and asked her one question “Do you want to have this baby”? Her mom said yes, and the rest was history. She walked out of that clinic with hope in her heart and Christina still safely in her womb.
While in D.C God gave Christina a burden for the African-American community. She was shocked to find out how her race has been targeted by Planned Parenthood from the start of their organization. Christina is convinced she will see Roe v. Wade overturned and abortion end in her lifetime.
