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The Big Picture of Lives Saved by Abortion on Demand: User Pays Applied to Pro-Life Advocates

Author

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  • Pope, Robin

Abstract

Pro-life advocates focus on a single entity, the foetus. Pro-choice advocates focus on another single entity, the pregnant mother. There should also be a third focus, on all people already born – on how a new entrant on average damages (or enhances) the whole community. Communal accounts are needed on births, not only on wars. This third big picture communal focus reveals two things. First, abortion on demand actually was the biggest factor in reducing crimes and associated deaths in the US in the 1990s. Second, abortion on demand could have curbed the population growth that keeps the third world subject to poverty and early death. That is, being pro life for foeti means being anti-life for most people already born – means condemning many already born to being sub-human, living in conditions of crime, poverty and early death. Under a user pays principle, pro-life advocates would pay for these damages to those already born for bringing more people into an overcrowded world and into families unable to give the new born a good enough life to avoid many of the turning to crime. Pro-life advocates however have insufficient wealth to compensate the community for these damages, even were they willing to make massive sacrifices in this direction.

Suggested Citation

  • Pope, Robin, 2009. "The Big Picture of Lives Saved by Abortion on Demand: User Pays Applied to Pro-Life Advocates," Bonn Econ Discussion Papers 14/2009, University of Bonn, Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bonedp:142009
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