William J. Bennett, a conservative radio show host and Education secretary during the Reagan administration, is under fire for suggesting that the crime rate could be reduced by "aborting "every black baby in this country."

"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," Bennett said on his show this week. "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."

Democrats and civil rights leaders called the remarks reprehensible. But Bennett said he was only trying to make a point that any justification for abortion would be wrong because he believes abortion is wrong.

"Immoral policies are wrong because they are wrong, not because of an economic calculation. One could just as easily have said you could abort all children and prevent all crime, to show the absurdity of the proposition," he said on his show yesterday.

Get the Story:
Bennett Under Fire for Remark on Crime and Black Abortions (The Washington Post 9/30)
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Democrats Attack Radio Host's Remarks on Crime (The New York Times 9/30)
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Relevant Links:
Bill Bennett's Morning in America - http://www.srnonline.com/talk/talk-bennett.shtml
Media Matters for America - http://mediamatters.org

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