How Did All Those Aborted Wisconsin Kids Vote?

They didn't, of course, because they were not allowed to live.  But could they have made a difference in the recent Wisconsin elections?  James Taranto has some thoughts about the 14year old that spoke at last weekend's Tea Party rally in Madison and how the "Roe Effect" may have changed the electoral dynamics:

Something else caught our attention about Tricia Willoughby. Larimore points out that "a quick Google search"--which turns up a post by blogger Stacy McCain--"reveals that her parents are pro-life activists in Madison and that Tricia is in a debate club. Cynics will point out that--gasp!--she is homeschooled, as if that ought to discredit her."

Larimore concludes: "There is much debate over what long-lasting impact the Tea Party will have, if any. If there are many more like Tricia Willoughby, I wouldn't underestimate it."

There probably are many more like Tricia Willoughby, aren't there? After all, her parents are "pro-life activists," which means they have a tendency to follow the biblical injunction to be fruitful and multiply. People on the other political side are more inclined toward subtraction (or as they call it, "choice"), as we explained in our 2005 paper "The Roe Effect."

Here are some Badger State numbers: Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide in 1973. The Wisconsin Department of Health has statewide figures on the annual number of abortions going back to 1975. Tot up the numbers through 1992, and you come up with 316,457.

Scott Walker won the governorship last year by a margin of 124,638. That may not be within the margin of abortion; after all, some of the missing 316,457 would have voted Republican had they existed, and many would not have voted.

But JoAnne Kloppenburg, the left-liberal state Supreme Court candidate who was supposed to save Wisconsin's labor monopolies from Walker's reforms, lost by just 7,316 votes, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (this figure is pending a possible futile recount). It's almost inconceivable that the Roe effect alone is insufficient to account for Justice David Prosser's victory.

Oh, and in four years, Tricia Willoughby will be old enough to vote, while an additional 54,522 will not be.

Interesting. While I'm not at all in favor of abortion, I am in favor of liberals not having kids.