An Analysis of Abortion Rights in Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt Essay

Reflecting on FreakonomicsAs one reads Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, one will detect many biases of the author. This is, of course, true in any book. The biases of the author can always be found, some more easily than others. In this book, the biases of the author are shown involving the topics of abortion, experts, and real-estate agents. Abortion has been one of the most controversial topics in history and continues to be so to this very day and age. Ever since abortion was legalized in 1973 by Roe v. Wade, the number of abortions performed each year has dramatically increased. However, Steven Levitt makes a bold and provocative statement that an unintended benefit of legalized abortion is a drop in crime. He goes on to say that most of the babies aborted would have grown up in poverty with a single teenage parent. According to studies, these are indicators that a child is more likely to grow up to a life of crime. Through a series of analyses on the number of abortions compared to the drop in crime in different areas at different times, Levitt proves that the legalizing of abortion in fact has had an impact on the drop in crime. This statement shows his bias because a pro-life economist would probably not mention this.Also, one will see the authors bias against experts. Steven Levitt states that, The typical parenting expert, like experts in other fields, is prone to sound exceedingly sure of himself. An expert doesnt so much argue the various sides of an issue as plant his flag firmly on one side. This statement, in my opinion, is generally true. The only thing that makes an expert an expert is that he says he is. Experts just state their opinion on an issue and turn that opinion into a fact. Steven Levitt displays his...

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