Is abortion a racist plot? Of course not
WASHINGTON — Perhaps members of the anti-abortion movement are growing a bit desperate. Though they’ve managed to crimp women’s reproductive rights through decades of legislative maneuvering and extra-legal harassment, they still cannot overturn Roe v. Wade, the historic 1973 Supreme Court decision. Nor have they moved public opinion much: A majority of Americans still believe that current law should stand.
Perhaps that’s why some factions in the “pro-life” crusade are professing a newfound concern for the well-being of black children. Perhaps that’s why “racism” has become the battle cry of anti-abortion groups whose members — overwhelmingly white, conservative and Republican — like to think that racism no longer exists.
Georgia’s largest anti-abortion group, Georgia Right to Life, is presenting itself as the last line of defense against a widespread plot to wipe out black people — a pogram of sorts. The group has mounted billboards throughout black Atlanta neighborhoods, claiming that “Black children are an endangered species” because of abortions.
While anti-abortion activists have long derided Margaret Sanger, considered the mother of modern family planning, for her endorsement of eugenics, they have more recently taken aim at such mainstream organizations as the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, claiming it, too, is run by bigots. Two years ago, a faith-based group with ties to black clergy sent a letter to the Congressional Black Caucus denouncing Planned Parenthood for its “racist and eugenic goals.”
Well, paranoid theories are usually impervious to facts, but let’s try some facts, anyway. Despite the obstacles many black children face on the road to a successful adulthood — poverty, crime, poor schools — their numbers are not threatened. Black women have a higher birth rate than the national average.
But it is also true that black women use abortion services disproportionately. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit that advocates for reproductive health, the abortion rate for black American women is almost five times that for white women. About one-third of all abortions are obtained by white women and about 37 percent by black women (who account for less than seven percent of the population), according to Susan Cohen of the non-profit Alan Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for reproductive health.
Those numbers are certainly troubling. But are racists persuading black women to have abortions? Is there some group of grim executioners looking to carry out a shadowy genocide?
That’s not only nutty; it’s also insulting. It’s both sexist and racist to suggest that black women don’t have the intellectual and emotional firepower to make their own decisions.
(Largely owing to easier-to-use contraceptives, abortion rates have been declining for the last 25 years, black women’s rates falling along with those of other ethnic groups. However, Latinas and black women still terminate pregnancies at higher rates than white women.)
“The truth is that behind virtually every abortion is an unintended pregnancy. . .Because black women as a group want the same number of children as white women, but have so many more unintended pregnancies, they are more likely than white women to terminate an unintended pregnancy by abortion to avoid an unwanted birth,” Cohen wrote in a paper entitled, “Abortion and Women of Color: The Bigger Picture.”
If conservatives are sincere about curbing abortions — among all women, white, black and brown — they should support efforts to broaden women’s health care, which includes reproductive health care. Easy access to contraceptives would encourage their use, thereby reducing unintended pregnancies — and abortions.
“The health disparities for low-income women and women of color are enormous,” noted Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, which provides full-service reproductive health care — including non-controversial procedures such as annual pelvic exams — to women who cannot get it elsewhere.
But social and religious conservatives have been fighting health care reform, which would broaden access to reproductive health care, with the passion they normally reserve for bashing Roe v Wade. That’s why it’s hard to believe they really care about black women — or their children.
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276 comments Add your comment
Peadawg
March 17th, 2010
9:33 am
Not to change the subject, but this is an interesting read:
http:/ /www. ajc. com/ business/ fact-check-premiums-would-376684. html
“FACT CHECK: Premiums would rise under Obama plan”
Tired of BS
March 17th, 2010
9:34 am
Look here are the facts. Many of the women are from welfare entitlement homes themselves. They live off the system and they feel no responsibility for the burden they put on the taxpayers. They lay down with boys and men like they change their clothes. In many cases they abuse aclohol, drugs, and the american taxpayer who must pay for their numerous children from different fathers.
You won’t stop the number of children born or the abortions performed until the community starts shaming these women and young girls who download children with no means to take care of them. Sadly, it’s entirely possible that these abortions are a saving the taxpayers CT. I’m inclined to think it’s not a bad idea after all. Education hasn’t worked, the money that we the taxpayer keeps throwing at these women only continues paying for cell phones, cheesy polyester weaves, and ghetto talon fill ins, that they use to attract new baby daddies. Racist….. not at all, just really tired of all the excuses and really tired of all the BS!
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 17th, 2010
9:34 am
Read the story Bubba, it starts with the live birth of a female baby, who is allowed to live all of 30 seconds prior to an ice pick being inserted into the back of baby’s skull, and the dying baby placed in the slops bucket for disposal. I call this full term abortion on demand.
Peadawg
March 17th, 2010
9:35 am
As far as abortion goes, it’s murder plain and simple whether it’s black or white. Nothing more to say.
Bubba
March 17th, 2010
9:36 am
Why are people afraid to call themselves pro-abortion? What’s with the “pro-choice” canard?
Robert
March 17th, 2010
9:38 am
I just find it hard to equate conservatives (assuming CT thinks that only whites are conservatives) wanting to save the lives of unborn African American children as a racist idea. Wouldn’t it be more racist if the opposite were true? (i.e., white race promoting abortion in these predominately black neighborhoods)
kayaker 71
March 17th, 2010
9:38 am
When 70% of babies are born out of wedlock in a particular ethnic group, it would seem that anyone could see the disparity. These are the ones that make it to the delivery room. About 1.27 M didn’t make it, 468,000 of which were AA. That’s about 1/3. If it walks like a duck…….
The Cynical White Boy
March 17th, 2010
9:38 am
I completely understand why the Obama press office dispatched this article to all ‘journalists’ on the ‘team’ in DC…..
Obama has to slant this issue in this way – otherwise he is caught between two of his most loyal support bases – the civil rights crowd on one hand, and the feminists on the other hand.
If the fringe of the civil rights movement steals this issue and makes it their own, Obama has these two groups fighting each other over abortion.
Hence, the slant that this entire issue is, ultimately, the fault of white, conservative, Repubs, who want to stomp down both women and hi-jack the civil rights movement in order to do it.
Just another day hanging in the press room, waiting for the latest Obama campaign message.
neo-Carlinist
March 17th, 2010
9:38 am
here’s an idea, let’s restrict posts to bloggers who have been party to an abortion. a woman who has had an abortion, or a man whose partner “chose” to abort the couple’s child, with or without the consent of the father. the anti-abortion crowd is not “pro-life” because it doesn’t care about lives; it cares about votes (see: war, death penalty, etc.). the pro-abortion crowd doesn’t care about life; either, but that’s a given. Roe v. Wade is like any other law. there are those who abide by it, and those who do not. the same will hold true if it is reversed (which I doubt); people who want abortions will have access to abortions (see: drugs, firearms, identity theft, etc.). this whole issue is political (a fundraising excercise). politicians and lobbyists don’t care about abortion beyind the political (and real) capital if offers. I guess abortion is “racist” if you are talking about the human race, but the government cannot legislate “thought”.
blady
March 17th, 2010
9:39 am
“Perhaps that’s why “racism” has become the battle cry of anti-abortion groups whose members — overwhelmingly white, conservative and Republican — like to think that racism no longer exists.”
Says it all and speaks volumes about the hypocrisy in which these flat-earthers constantly engage.
Peadawg
March 17th, 2010
9:39 am
“Why are people afraid to call themselves pro-abortion? What’s with the “pro-choice” canard?”
I always wondered why people sugar-coat it like that as well. Just call it like it is.
CrowDog
March 17th, 2010
9:40 am
Ms. Tucker, do you realize that planned parenthood had an agenda to reduce the number of black and other so call rejects in America. Margaret Sanger was a racist and she used the black preacher to do her dirty work in Harlem and other black area. Currently, and you can look up the statistics yourself from the CDC, black comprise 12% of the population but have 25-33% of abortions. More black have been aborted than the Klan could ever kill. There have been 12 million black abortions since Roe v Wade.
Now who’s doing the hate, conservatives or liberals? You say you believe in adoption but you never question the ethics of your Democratic party and why planned parenthood targets poor black women. Babies can make decision, people do and when planned parenthood tried to use the same tactics in Hispanic communities, they were ran out.
Democrats are pro-abortion not choice. Choice promotes adoption.
Reality
March 17th, 2010
9:40 am
@Bubba: I can answer that one! The term “pro-abortion” would mean that one wants abortion. I don’t know of anyone whose position is that we “want” abortion. The term “pro-choice” would mean that one wants everyone to have options – yes to abortion if they chose or no to abortion if they don’t want one; and maybe even yes to give their baby up for adoption or no they want to keep it.
I always felt that these terms were self-explanatory and am shocked to see that everyone doesn’t clearly see the distinction.
Peadawg
March 17th, 2010
9:41 am
“overwhelmingly white, conservative and Republican — like to think that racism no longer exists”
2 things, Cynthia.
1. Are there no black Republicans?
2. To some people racism doesn’t exist. Sad to say some people like Cynthia keep it alive.
JMS
March 17th, 2010
9:41 am
Maybe black woman should cross their legs more often and or use birth control if they do not want to concieve a child… actually that goes for all woman! Black ,white red, yellow…. And Cynthia the race card is about worn out. Not everything is a conspiracy.
Peadawg
March 17th, 2010
9:42 am
“I always felt that these terms were self-explanatory and am shocked to see that everyone doesn’t clearly see the distinction.”
They’re the same. One just isn’t politically correct. One just sounds better.
DBH
March 17th, 2010
9:42 am
“If conservatives are sincere about curbing abortions — among all women, white, black and brown — they should support efforts to broaden women’s health care, which includes reproductive health care.”
Oh, really, Ms. Tucker? Well, then, answer me this, please: What does the lack of women’s health care have to do with the woman’s decision to have sex in the first place and ultimately resulting in an “unintended” pregnancy? I mean, seriously. How much more “health care” does a woman need in order to understand that IF you CHOOSE to have sex, there is a CHANCE you COULD become pregnant? The woman’s choice to have an abortion is no more due to a lack of reproductive health care than it is for the woman who chooses to have the baby.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 17th, 2010
9:43 am
Why is a woman’s choice to either reproduce or not any of Bubba’s business anyway? Unless he is the father, he has no say in the matter, and neither should the government. There is far more Evil in the world than an American woman choosing abortion in the first trimester. After the first trimester, abortion or miscarriage becomes an increasingly risky procedure for the mother, a life threatening event for her. Gendercide is an ancient practice that has been and continues to be the greatest “holocaust” in the history of the world, yet it is ignored by almost all. That is the true Evil.
Bob
March 17th, 2010
9:44 am
Anon, how many times does a kid have to be told how babies are made and a condom can be bought for about the same as a forty, price is no excuse.
Reality
March 17th, 2010
9:45 am
@CrowDog – Whoa there nelly! Pro-choice means to give individuals the right to make their own decisions regarding their own reproductive abilities. That’s it. Nothing more or nothing less.
If they chose to have an abortion, then that is pro-choice.
If they chose to have the baby, then that is pro-choice.
If they chose to keep the baby, then that is pro-choice.
If they chose to give the baby up for adoption, then that is pro-choice.
The group calling themselves “anti-abortion” want to step in and dictate with big government to tell individuals what to do with their reproductive rights. It is always funny and very hypocritical that the same people that claim to be republican conservatives wanting less goverment intrusion into our lives are the SAME ones wanting big government telling others what to do with their reproductive rights.
Bubba
March 17th, 2010
9:46 am
Reality, I have two follow-up questions: If you believe there’s nothing wrong with abortion, why do you want to limit it? Also, were the people in the 1800s who favored slavery but didn’t own them pro-slavery or pro-choice?
Chris
March 17th, 2010
9:46 am
Bubba…Political Correctness was invented for those without the intestinal fortitude to actually speak their true mind and beliefs. Lets face it “pro-choice” is their euphamistic way to express the fact that they are FOR killing babies for the simple convenience of the parent
Jess
March 17th, 2010
9:46 am
Peadawg,
I read the article this morning on the fact check about health care cost. No surprises. Obama is lying about the numbers.
TnGelding
March 17th, 2010
9:47 am
Well, somebody has to look after their children and do their menial tasks.
“That’s not only nutty; it’s also insulting. It’s both sexist and racist to suggest that black women don’t have the intellectual and emotional firepower to make their own decisions.”
Well, I think we can agree they’ve made some bad decisions or they wouldn’t be having so many children or abortions.
And nobody is pro-abortion. We’re pro-choice and think the key is preventing unwanted pregnancies. Something you’d think conservatives would support. And in the very high percentage of procedures cells, embryos and fetuses are aborted; not babies. But we men really need to leave the argument to the women. It’s their final decision.
Drinking the koolaid...
March 17th, 2010
9:48 am
Another day, another CT column on race. This one is a bit far fetched, but the goal is to stir the pot I guess so mission accomplished.
I do like the way you weave in that its “nutty” (I actually agree here) with a statement that its being planned by “overwhelmingly white, conservative and Republican” (which by the way I believe to be in of itself a racially biased statement unless you have official statistics of what the demographic, race, and political make up of the group is). Never miss an opportunity to poke the other side huh?
I don’t believe in abortion any longer- my attitudes changed as I got older and had kids of my own. I think adoption is a better solution. I’m not willing, however, to enforce my beliefs on anyone else legally or otherwise.
Every person must make their own choices in life and settle up for the good and bad at the end.
Margaret
March 17th, 2010
9:48 am
Cynthia, I know that hundreds of people who agree with you simply don’t take the time to post. I am often in that group, and I so appreciate your courage in continuing to speak truth to power.
Bubba
March 17th, 2010
9:49 am
T&F, so in your world I would have no interest in whether a parent killed his child unless I was the parent?
Silly Liberals
March 17th, 2010
9:49 am
Tucker,
Would you please do yourself a favor and study your history before you vomit words all over a computer screen?
Planned Parenthood WAS created out of Sanger’s belief in eugenics. But whereas other supporters of eugenics back in the day promoted drastic measures, like forced sterility, to curb births of “undesirables”, Sanger’s approach was considered more humane because she advocated eugenics by preventing pregnancy through safe-sex. It was a way for a society, in her opinion, to become stronger by preventing the births of children who would otherwise be born into less than perfect environments, namely poverty. But it was still eugenics. Were Nazi concentration camp guards who gassed Jews kinder than those who burned them alive in ovens? No. It was just a different kind of cruelty. If Sanger were a Nazi, she would have chosen to gas prisoners, while her counterparts chucked them into ovens.
Nunya Beeswax
March 17th, 2010
9:49 am
Kayaker71 provides some interesting figures to digest. The future suddenly looks brighter, in more ways than one. Rosie makes a very valid point. Self-inflicted genocide is the wave of the future.
Donna P.
March 17th, 2010
9:50 am
Abortion will be paid for in Obama Care. Is birth control of any kind available for free in it?
Granny Godzilla
March 17th, 2010
9:50 am
a gentle reminder….birth control is not simply a womans issue.
while women should “keep there legs closed”,
men should try “keeping it in their pants”.
Peadawg
March 17th, 2010
9:50 am
“The group calling themselves “anti-abortion” want to step in and dictate with big government to tell individuals what to do with their reproductive rights.”
You’re a Democrat, right Reality? Cynthia? Y’all like big government controlling our lives, right? Or is it just sometimes or when it’s convenient to your beliefs?
Rafe Hollister
March 17th, 2010
9:51 am
Sin-thee for once you are right. Abortion should be kept legal and adoption promoted. Are their racist policies in place at abortuaries, I do not know. I guess for you it is “in Democrats we trust”.
We do need better medical care for poor people in general and expentant mothers specifically, but Obamacare, is an abortion in itself and needs to be defeated.
Bubba
March 17th, 2010
9:51 am
T&F wrote: There is far more Evil in the world than an American woman choosing abortion in the first trimester.
There is far more evil in the world than a man robbing a bank too. Does that mean I shouldn’t oppose armed robbery?
Granny Godzilla
March 17th, 2010
9:52 am
Donna P
You are wrong.
HCR is limited by the Hite amendment.
There is no provision in HCR to have federal funds pay for abortions.
You are either misinformed or telling a lie.
Interesting
March 17th, 2010
9:52 am
I’ve been concerned about this for years. The real number of AA abortions is probably closer to 45% (note that 37% of abortions come from AA mothers…This does not include the race of the father…If you included AA fathers with non AA women, the number will surely increase.)
I’m concerned that so many AA parents believe this is the best option for them and their child. This tells me that many AA parents are not comfortable with our adoption/foster care system or their extended family when it comes to helping raise a child. I’m not saying the abortion process is racist, but I am saying that it seems like general society is fairly comfortable with high abortion rates in “at risk” communities. The authors of Freakanomics even suggest that abortion has helped reduce crime rates in major cities. Personally, I would argue that high abortion rates have hurt major cities…
Aquagirl
March 17th, 2010
9:52 am
I anxiously await more posts indicating black women should cross their legs, just say no, quit being sluts, etc. Until then, I’ll be researching this new phenomenon that black women impregnate themselves, since I see nothing about guys keeping it in their pants, just saying no, supporting their children, etc.
pat
March 17th, 2010
9:52 am
Well abortion kills more blacks than any other demographic. An argument can be made that keeping it “free and legal” and even subsidizing it with tax dollars is a way to keep the black population in check
Seriously?
March 17th, 2010
9:53 am
After reading the article and some of the responses, I am floored at the thinking in America.
It is ALWAYS someone else’s fault, Planned Parenthood, Georgia Right to Life, etc….How about taking personal responsibility for your own actions. I find it hard to believe that ANY race is not aware of how babies are born. If you play with fire, you will eventually get burned.
The problem is the American society is becoming more and more latch key and parents are not there to raise their children. We also have an epidemic of absentee fathers.
I am SO SO SO (see a pattern here) sick of everything coming down to race (especially in Tucker’s blogs); people disagree with Obama’s stance because he is black, the white man is keeping us down, the list goes on and on. People disagree with Obama because they disagree with the bill, resolution, bail-out, etc. ObamaCare will run this country into the ground and getting decent healthcare will be impossible. If you have ever looked at Canada, why do you think so many Canadians are coming across the border to get medical care; they cannot wait months to have a procedure! If people think ObamaCare will assist the “low-income”, they are wrong; it is yet another false promise for change!
Food for thought…..
1. Stop having sex and take personal responsibility for your actions.
2. Raise your children to understand the importance of safe-sex or abstinence.
3. Be a father to your children, don’t run off looking for the next piece.
4. Create a future for yourself and don’t expect anyone else to do it for you.
I came from a low income family in a carpet mill town and I have made it far by hard work and determination. I never expected a hand out and worked my butt off to get where I am now. I went to college in Decatur and was by far a minority being I was one of a very few white kids. I saw too many black kids with a free ride with grants and other government money who wasted it. I am still paying for my education and worked hard to graduate and move on to get my Master degree. If you do not have to work hard for something, you will not appreciate it.
Get off you @$$ and do something with you life and take personal responsibility for your actions! It does not matter if you black, white, green or freakin’ purple, you are the only one in control of your life!
VERITAS
March 17th, 2010
9:53 am
It is no coincidence most of the “planned parenthood” locations are in low-income and minority neighborhoods. Nothing but modern-day Auschwitzs, funded by the American taxpayer. No wonder God is frowning on the USA these days.
Scooter (the Original)
March 17th, 2010
9:55 am
If someone can’t figure out how to get a contraceptive before intercourse or successfully implement the pull out method during, then by all means let them have an abortion.
Oh Brother
March 17th, 2010
9:56 am
African American women are LEAST LIKELY to get abortions than white women, though. Did anyone cite that FACT in the midst of this nonsense?
Peadawg
March 17th, 2010
9:57 am
“There is no provision in HCR to have federal funds pay for abortions.”
There is vague wording in the bill that could possibly allow it. Google “health care reform taxpayer funded abortions” That’s one of the problems right now…that’s why Pelosi can’t get some Democrats to vote for it. Atleast some people can read for themselves and not listen to Pelosi and Obama’s lies.
MikeB
March 17th, 2010
9:57 am
I don’t care which side of the abortion fight you are on Ms.Tucker. Just don’t bring race into the discussion in terms of “oppression”.
The end result will be the same for all races.
Since you are obsessed with positioning yourself as the next Rev.Al Sharpton (using the AJC as your pulpit) why not focus on the “choices” and “consiquences” of those choices of those you spend so much time advocating for.
Instead you consistently avoid the personal responsibility debate and run around with your figurative hand out, thinking that society owes this and that. What a poor irresponsible use of pen/pulpit.
Many who may be inclined to help, may after reading a series of your rants may step back They know the more they give, more you will try to get, and it will never stop.
pat
March 17th, 2010
9:58 am
Pro-choice my rectum. It’s a way to soften the truth. The truth is that abortion kills viable living human beings. Doing this willfully is murder. There is no break in the human life cycle from conception to death. If I kill you as a fetus, you will never exist, period.
There’s a lot better ways to not get pregnant. Don’t kill your kids because they are inconvenient to you.
Do the right thing and quit whinning. Pro-abortionists cannot and never will win the debate because you are wrong morally, philosophcally, and scientifically. You just want it because you want it, nothing more.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 17th, 2010
9:58 am
Wrong Bubba, killing a child is murder, early abortion is just another form of birth control. R U opposed to birth control? Gendercide is practiced, for the most part, in parts of the world that do not have access to ultrasound or other techniques to determine the gender of the fetus, so the father must wait till after the birth to determine the sex of the baby, and its fate. After the birth, it is a murder to kill the baby, and that is what Gendercide is all about around the world, the systematic murder of millions of baby girls every year. Yet Bubba only wants to tell American women when and where to reproduce. It must be very depressing for you Bubba to see the work place in America being totally taken over by WOMEN. If you currently have a job, your boss is most likely female. What would she say if she knew you were not working, rather you were posting sexist rantings on the internet? I think you would be fired. I hope she is reading this, and runs out of her office to check up on you Bubba.
Oh Brother
March 17th, 2010
9:58 am
“AA women are three more times a likely to have an abortion than any other ethnic group.”
Please cite your source.
Granny Godzilla
March 17th, 2010
9:58 am
Scooter
the pull out method…..sorry foolish idea.
pre-ejaculate impregnates too.
Pope UGA XXIII
March 17th, 2010
9:58 am
Mrs/Miss/Ms/whatever Tucker:
On occasion, I look at your column, if for no other reason, to
see how stupid some jounalists really are. You very well may be
Terrence Moore with a dress on.
When will some of you clowns stop hollering “RACISM” when
you can conjure up some silly thought about black people being
mistreated in some fashion.
Although I don’t have access to your medical records, I will bet
you a steak dinner that you were dropped on your head when you
were a child – several times.
BigDawgEatsAlot
March 17th, 2010
10:00 am
In typical fashion, CT responds to that of which is for her own self-promotion. Advertising about your own adoption efforts is just one of the narcissistic signs that we see with you. Your adoption is not any sort of merit badge. Good for you-but its discussion amidst this article is completely irrelevant.
Your article had nothing to do with adoption, and never mentioned it. It’s odd how you conveniently skip over the arguments claiming you are the racist in your own debate, or for being Chicken Little against the right-but then, most people who don’t speak the truth usually avoid the facts.
People who were adopted tend to be more pro-life people then anyone else-given that the nature of the medical procedure results in their death, and people like you are advocating it as a form of birth control that is on the same level as a condom, pill, etc. There are times when abortion can be necessary, but to advocate it as a form of birth control belongs as a half-brained idea from an amoral person (no implications there toward religion, just to that of someone who knows right from wrong).
What will come of the day when your adopted child asks you whether you would have supported their death simply because the mother did not want a child? For the quid pro quo of the argument CT-do you support the Death Penalty for murderers, or just for unborn children to parents ignorant of the 10’s of 100’s of different contraceptive measures?