I'm going to have to come up with a new category -- maybe something like "really, really stupid posts." Andrew Sullivan quotes this piece by Ross Douthat with no comment. I would guess he's waiting for the feedback before he commits himself to a position (gee -- he could be running in the Republican primaries).
Here's the quote:
Over the long run, my assumption is that a ban on abortion, by changing the incentives of sexual behavior and family formation, would actually end up reducing out-of-wedlock births, welfare spending, and all the rest of it, and that a short-term investment in a pro-life welfare state (and an acceptance of the short term spike in illegitimacy, dependency and government spending that would presumably accompany it) would prove a boon to conservatism in the end. But that's a long-term hope, not a short-term plan - and even if that assumption weren’t borne out, I still think that a higher illegitimacy rate and a more expensive and intrusive welfare state would be a small price to pay for a country where every human being enjoyed the protection of the laws.
Uh, Ross -- we've tried that. Didn't work. It's a nice little fantasy, but that's all it is. To promote it as rational thought is sort of beyond the pale. As for having a country where every human being enjoys the protection of the laws, maybe we could start with those who are already born?
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