Abortion vs. Drug Violence

I've seen a lot of quotes like this recently here in Mexico:  Son más víctimas a causa del aborto, que aquellas de la guerra contra el narco. There are more deaths from abortions than those from the war on drugs.

Perhaps we can also put it this way: It is hypocritical to want to stop the war on drugs while maintaining abortion should be legal.

But I disagree. Making abortion illegal does not necessarily make it less likely. A person can be in favor of legal abortion, or more correctly, against criminalizing abortion, while still being strongly anti-abortion. If you want there to be less abortions, don't assume that merely making something illegal makes it go away, but instead examine the cause. Why do some women seek an abortion?

I would guess desperation. Fear. Hopelessness. And why do these abound?

Lots of reasons, such as social and economic inequality, the decay of the family and community unit, violent environments, poor education, poor nutrition, a loss of touch with the natural world...

Does it make sense to compare these two measurements? Is any rational person in favor of deaths by abortion, or deaths from the violence related to drug trafficking? And why do the latter exist? Are they related to abortion deaths?

Why do people become involved in drug-trafficking? For some maybe it's the excitement, the chance to become rich. But I'm sure it's more likely that most people get involved because they have little other opportunity. They are afraid for their lives due to the violence that surrounds them so they perpetuate the problem. They have little hope for the future because of their social and educational status. They get involved out of desperation.

It looks to me like these two issues should not be pitted against one another. They both stem from the same problems: inequality, injustice, environmental degradation, and a lack of good public will. Not all of these are easily fixed of course, but one that is relatively easy, one problem to ameliorate first would be to narrow the opportunity gap. In an unjust society in which a small percentage of the population enjoys most of the opportunity, there will be more desperate acts than in a just one.