By Dave Andrusko

A colleague was kind enough to send a long an op-ed that appeared July 1st in the New York Post. Headlined, "Where New York's not proud to lead," John Wilson's column is a grim reminder where an unthinking, all-encompassing, no-holds-barred commitment to "choice" can lead you.

Wilson reminds his audience in the first sentence that it was 40 years to the day that "New York became the first state in the US where abortion was broadly legal." In the ensuing years, "New York City has become the nation's undisputed abortion capital, with an overwhelmingly pro-choice political establishment -- and an abortion rate that's three times the national average."

Periodically, ghastly stories make their way into the New York City tabloids, depicting an essentially unregulated abortion industry whose indifference to the health--and lives--of women is as apparent as their greed is abundant. Wilson's detailed explanation of abortion statistics in the city is no less scandalous.

For one thing, there is the sheer number of babies aborted. In 2008, according to the New York City Health Department, there were "89,469 abortions performed in New York City" which is seven abortions for every 10 live births, Wilson explains.

Even before he writes it, you're sure what's coming next: "Among black women, abortions out number live births by three to two." To reiterate: for every two babies born alive to black women, three are aborted.

I suppose killing on this scale would not be possible unless almost the entirety of the political establishment was in thrall to the ideology of "choice." Nonetheless, while it may not be surprising that only 5 of 51 City Council members "were willing to call that abortion rate 'too high,'" that doesn't make it any the less appalling.

So "Why the silence?" Wilson asks. "Perhaps it's a concern that New York's pro-choice majority is not as solid as it seems, and that talking candidly about the issue will only make matters worse."

As evidence he talks about the growing number of people who self-identify as pro-life and how a "fundamental aversion to abortion can be seen in the fact that the more specific poll questions get, the more pro-life Americans appear, at least in comparison to present law."

Wilson shrewdly observes, "It's probably no coincidence that 2009 was the first time in decades that more Americans identified as pro-life than as pro-choice -- and also the year that the ObamaCare debate nudged abortion to the front of the national discussion. "

There is no doubt that of all the pro-abortion strongholds, fewer have circled the wagons more tightly than New York City.

One reason the killing goes unabated, Wilson suggests, is that New York has never had a "frank discussion about the consequences of 40 years of legal abortion."

He concludes, "Here's hoping it doesn't take another 40 for that to happen."

Please send all of your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com.  If you like join those who are now following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha.