4 ms·
Lead and Roe v Wade are often discussed, but it's one of those issues that's really hard to gain confidence about any particular explanation. It appears likely
by Obi_Juan_Kenobi 8y ago
Lead and Roe v Wade are often discussed, but it's one of those issues that's really hard to gain confidence about any particular explanation. It appears likely that both played a role, but to what extent is more difficult to say.
- rootusrootus 8y agoRoe v Wade is pretty far out there, but lead exposure has a lot of decent correlational data from different regions, since it was phased out around the country and around the world at different times.
- rossdavidh 8y agoRoe v Wade is not _that_ far out there. It explains state-level differences for when the decline began, for example. I'm not saying it's a slam dunk, but it's got some reasonable supporting evidence, enough to at least not be considered "out there".
- rootusrootus 8y agoYou may be right; I recall, though, hearing some fairly convincing counter-arguments at the time the first Roe v Wade hypothesis was floated. But maybe there's been more research since.
- rossdavidh 8y agoThe biggest argument I've heard since then was that, while the abortion rate has gradually declined again since then, the crime rate has not gone back up.