Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

Today the invaluable Chiaroscuro Foundation has a new map out illustrating New York abortion rates by zip code over a ten year period. Greg Pfundstein explains the chilling data over at NRO:

New York is one of the states with the most complete abortion license in the nation. Beyond the fact that in New York only a licensed physician can (legally) perform an abortion, and that there is a 24-week gestational age limit, a woman can procure an abortion in New York for any reason with no interference. New York City’s abortion regime is America’s abortion regime: What is emanating from the penumbras of the Constitution is the fact that in parts of Jamaica, Queens, over the last ten years, six out of every ten women with a viable pregnancy procured an abortion.

The city’s political leaders work (often helpfully) in the service of the real-estate class while trying to maintain their liberal credentials through unwavering support of sexual liberationism. This combination has been particularly devastating for the city’s African-American neighborhoods, where 60 percent of all pregnancies end in an abortion. With a political elite unwilling to question pro-abortion orthodoxies, the only factor likely to push down abortion rates is, perhaps, gentrification. In lieu of any other solution, certain neighborhoods will be spared the scourge of abortion only when they are swept away by rising rents.

Over time, the steady march of gentrification will be the big story told by abortion maps like Chiaroscuro’s. It is a story of political and moral failure.


Comments are visible to subscribers only. Log in or subscribe to join the conversation.

Tags

Loading...

Filter First Thoughts Posts

Related Articles