A caller to Bill Bennett's radio show was making an economic argument for banning abortion, and Bennett replied that it was perilous to rely on social science to resolve the moral question.

* A caller to Bill Bennett's radio show was making an economic argument for banning abortion, and Bennett replied that it was perilous to rely on social science to resolve the moral question. Aborting all black babies would reduce the crime rate, he said, but would still be grossly immoral. Assuming Bennett was speaking of per capita crime rates, his claim that aborting black babies would reduce them is nearly incontrovertible. It is sadly true that blacks commit a disproportionate amount of crime. Predictably, Bennett has been made out to be a cross burner. Senator Kennedy denounced Bennett's "racist comments," Nancy Pelosi said they were "a direct hit at our children," and Howard Dean called them "hateful, inflammatory," and "simply inexcusable." The White House piled on, calling Bennett's remarks "inappropriate." The near-universal assumption in this phony controversy is that it is worse to discuss the killing of unborn blacks than it is actually to kill them. Bennett is opposed to the aborting of black babies--which is more than you can say about Dean, Kennedy, and Pelosi.