The Roe effect is a theory of how the court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide in the United States, affected the political leanings of Americans. The simple version states that, since those who favor legal abortion are much more likely to get one than those who oppose it, and since children often follow their parents' political leanings, support for legal abortions will decline over time, simply because pro-choice parents will have fewer children than they might otherwise have had. Since people frequently associate their views with political parties, those parties that oppose abortion, such as conservative parties, including the Republican Party, could gain power over time. James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal named this theory and has discussed it extensively in his Opinionjournal.com column "Best of the Web Today." He cites statistics to support his case, such as evidence that current college-age students (mostly born after abortion's legalization) oppose abortion more now than students in earlier years.

See also

• Legalized abortion and crime effect