Does Abortion Lower The Crime Rate?

Crime in the U.S. has fallen dramatically since 1991. By 1998, the homicide rate was down by more than one-third, and the rates for all violent crime and property crime were each down by around one-quarter.

Many explanations have been offered for the decline, including increased expenditures on prisons and police, better policing strategies, the strong U.S. economy, and the diminished role of crack cocaine. Spending on prisons and police has been increasing since the 1970s, however, so this factor therefore does not explain why crime rose until 1991 and then fell sharply. Better policing methods, as promoted by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in New York, may be making a difference. But crime rates also fell substantially in Los Angeles and the District of Columbia, which are not renowned for their policing skills. As to the strong economy, it is hard to show generally that growth in income and employment leads to less crime. For example, the economy performed well from 1983 to 1989, while national crime rates rose. Finally, the fall in crime rates after 1991 occurred in places where crack cocaine had never been much of a factor.