Deroy Murdock has done more than anyone else to call attention to the fact that when Rudy Giuliani was mayor, the abortion rate fell faster in New York City than it did nationally. Murdock’s work draws on that of Professor Michael New. But New has also said that he cannot attribute the decline in New York City to anything the mayor did. Murdock glosses over this point.
Murdock continues to insist that a comparison of the trend in the city to the trend in the nation reflects well on the mayor—but that it is grossly unfair to compare the trend in the city to the trend in the state. As far as I can tell, the only principle that can justify this double standard is that statistics that make Murdock’s candidate look good should be publicized and statistics that make him look bad ignored.
Giuliani can take credit for a lot of great things that happened in New York City under his watch. The decline in abortion isn’t one of them.