Using data from England and Wales, we test the hypothesis that
legalizing abortion reduces crime. The timing of changes in
crime rates in aggregate data is generally inconsistent with
this hypothesis. Using panel data on recorded crime from 1983 to
2001, we are able to replicate the negative association between
abortion rates and reported crime that J. J. Donohue and S. D.
Levitt found for the United States. However, this association
breaks down under the scrutiny of robustness checks and is not
present when we examine data on convictions broken down by age.
Overall, we find no clear, consistent relationship between
abortion and crime in England and Wales.