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A few decades back, a Wall Street Journal editor named James Taranto posited what he called “the Roe Effect.” The idea was spawned by data showing a correlation between a woman’s political views and her views and actions regarding abortion.

Taranto argued that, over time, conservative women and families would have more children and liberal woman, accepting abortion, would have a lower birth rate, and this would lead to diminishing popular support for legal abortion.

Writing in 2005, Taranto said , “The Roe Effect ... refers specifically to the nexus between the practice of abortion and the politics of abortion. It seems self-evident that pro-choice women are more likely to have abortions than pro-life ones, and common sense suggests that children tend to gravitate t

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