A Statement by PFAWF President Ralph G. Neas

On yesterday’s Salem radio broadcast of Bill Bennett’s Morning in America, archconservative commentator Bill Bennett questioned the accuracy of a study suggesting that legal abortion has reduced the crime rate by reducing the number of unwanted children, and then said this:

BENNETT: Well, I don’t think it is [accurate] either, I don’t think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don’t know. But I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could — if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

(Transcribed by Media Matters for America.)

“If there’s anyone who doubts that racial insensitivity still plays a role in our society and political culture, they should listen to these appalling remarks by Bill Bennett,” said People For the American Way Foundation President Ralph G. Neas. “This speaks for itself.”