Bill Bennett Says Media to Blame on Abortion-Crime Comment

Bill Bennett Says Media to Blame on Abortion-Crime Comment

by Steven Ertelt

LifeNews.com Editor

October 10, 2005

Bakersfield, CA (LifeNews.com) -- In a speech on Monday, former Education Secretary Bill Bennett said the media is to blame for twisting his words on abortion and crime out of context and making his views appear differently. Bennett came under fire last week for saying that a study showing crime could be reduced through abortions is reprehensible. Specifically, Bennett responded to a caller on his nationally syndicated radio program and took to task a book claiming abortion reduces crime.

"But 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.

He added that such an idea 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."

In his first public speech since making the comment, he told a meeting of the Bakersfield Business Conference in California that he was attempting to put forward "a bad argument in order to put it down."

"I was putting forward a bad argument in order to put it down," Bennett said. "They reported and emphasized only the abhorrent argument, not my shooting it down."

Bennett said media reports distorted the point he was trying to make by making it appear he endorsed the idea.

Source: http://www.lifenews.com/nat1683.html

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