Anti-abortion group targets black women with billboards
An anti-abortion group targeting African-American women has begun putting up dozens of billboards around metro Atlanta, declaring black children to be “an endangered species.”
This is what they look like:
Ryan Bomberger, co-founder of the Radiance Foundation, said 35 should be up by Feb. 15. “We’re aiming for a lot more, but that’s where we’re at,” Bomberger said.
The billboards were announced at a state Capitol news conference at which another group, Georgia Right to Life, announced that it would back legislation this session that would make it a crime to “solicit a woman to have an abortion based on the race or sex of the unborn child.”
The two groups are citing what they say are federal statistics that indicate 56 percent of abortions in Georgia are performed on African-American women, though black make up 30 percent of the general population.
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331 comments Add your comment
law
February 4th, 2010
10:38 pm
where are these pro lifers when i comes to that homeless person dying on the street because he doesn’t have health insurance???? its funny how they are alway preaching about life, and claim to be the most sound_minded god fearing people on earth; but in a heartbeat will drop a bomb on anyone that doesn’t agree with them. the only time they are pro-life is when it pertains to abortion. they don’t care about the environment, hispanic, blacks or any other ethnic group. for god sakes they killed and destroyed a whole region based on them being arab or muslims. conservatives are murderers. im not saying abortion is right, but they conservatives are responsible for whole lot more deaths than those women walking into abortion clinics
Tina
February 4th, 2010
10:41 pm
@ wade: I thought I did answer the real #3 at 10:31. But I guess to be more to the point, I think abortions would decrease because folks these days have heard enough about these back room abortions to know how unsafe they are. Trust me, these women don’t want to risk killing themselves in the process of killing the baby.
Wade
February 4th, 2010
10:43 pm
Touche, thanks for answering my question. I agree with you in some ways, but respectfully disagree in others.
ron chandonia
February 4th, 2010
10:46 pm
The headline on ajc.com, like the headline of this column, claims, “Anti-Abortion Group Targets Black Women.” Targets??? Like Scott Roeder? Please! If you would just read the information on the group’s website, you’d see that it is the abortion establishment and their supporters who have been targeting African American women . . . and their babies. I notice that the people leading the charge on this are black–including Catherine Davis from GA Right to Life, who caused quite a stir at the March for Life in Atlanta a couple weeks back (don’t look for an account of that event in the ajc). That does not seem to be the case with the Friends of Planned Parenthood here who seem to think there are already too many black folks around for their taste.
janet
February 4th, 2010
10:47 pm
Pro life people are really just pro birth. Once the baby arrives, mother and child are on their own.
No one has mentioned that 75% of black children are born to single mothers. Maybe this group should just spend their money on free birth control for all women. That would eliminate the need for many of the abortions and of course reduce the excess of children born to unwed mothers. And don’t forget that the leading killer of black women ages 18-35 in America is AIDS. I would say that should be bill board.
Sarah
February 4th, 2010
10:47 pm
That’s very nice about the heartbeat. Now, why is that significant exactly? Because the heart is irrationally thought of as emotional, full of love, etc? Why not carp about the time the fetus’ GI tract develops?
All animals have heartbeats, btw, so I’m sure it’s safe to assume you’re also an animal rights activist, right?
Jim Galloway is a coward
February 4th, 2010
10:49 pm
call the group what it is….PRO LIFE not anti abortion. Liberal scum
Dear Tina
February 4th, 2010
10:49 pm
Lordy people, non-profit means the organization and any investors do not make a profit. Period. Do you know what “profit” means?
From Webster’s:
1 : a valuable return : gain
2 : the excess of returns over expenditure in a transaction or series of transactions; especially : the excess of the selling price of goods over their cost
3 : net income usually for a given period of time
4 : the ratio of profit for a given year to the amount of capital invested or to the value of sales
5 : the compensation accruing to entrepreneurs for the assumption of risk in business enterprise as distinguished from wages or rent
It is an economic term meaning the revenue of a business or enterprise that exceeds that business or enterprise’s expenses. There are laws in this country that state how an organization is defined as a non-profit for tax purposes, and they include the requirement that no person or investor makes a profit from the organization’s enterprises. There are even requirements about excess benefits for employees or board members so it would be very difficult for someone to create a massive swindle and profit from the organization illegally in that way. The IRS is pretty strict about these things, and rightfully so, because a non-profit and its donors are exempt from taxes on the money it collects.
Therefore, since the IRS agrees and the annual report lays out all the numbers, I believe we can safely say that Planned Parenthood is not making a profit. Do their employees get paid? Of course, but so do the employees of pro-life organizations, pregnancy support centers, and likely the foundation who funded this billboard (if it has any).
Look, I really don’t enjoy seeing people show their ignorance. It makes me very sad and depressed about the future of America. Here’s an idea for everyone here: before posting anything else, make sure to look up all the words you are using to make sure they mean what you think they mean and look up all the facts from a non-biased source to make sure you’ve got your facts straight. I just did that myself right now before hitting enter. That way, people won’t be able to dismiss you for those reasons, and you can really make your voice heard for those things you strongly believe in. Regardless of our differences on this issue, we can all benefit from having all the facts!
Tina
February 4th, 2010
10:51 pm
@Sarah: I am one of those people who “pretends” to give a crap about black babies. In fact, I do give a crap about black babies–and all babies for that matter. In fact, I am a black person carrying a child by my white husband. Furthermore, is it so hard for you to believe that people could actually care about black babies. If so, you need to ask yourself why that is. I care about the black children, which is why I neither want to see them aborted NOR on welfare. You do know that these two things are not mutually exclusive right? I don’t shun black moms (or white ones) with kids on welfare, but I do beleive they should be ashamed of themselves when they REPEATEDLY get pegnant in the first place knowing they cannot care for the children or provide a dad.
Jim Galloway is a coward
February 4th, 2010
10:53 pm
call it was it is…PRO LIFE and ANTI LIFE
Tina
February 4th, 2010
10:55 pm
@ Dear Tina: I hate to be crass but you could have saved all that crap. Hpw long did it take you to do the research for your mini-book. We know the org and investors (the folks who are hit up for the cash) do not get a profit, but you are dumb if you don’t think the operators/founders/employees don’t get paid–you are too foolish. I probably shouldn’t even be responding to you but I’m just sitting here in my bed…
Roxy
February 4th, 2010
10:57 pm
By the way… I’d like to have every Man and Woman against abortion personally break out their check book and put their money where their mouth is. Hey… why not set up their own personal website and say “If you are thinking of aborting your child…we promise to pesonally provide medical care, take you & your child into our home, feed & cloth you both, put you (Mom) thru the best Ivy League College and pay for everything…and that goes for your kid too….because we simply care that much.” (Pffffttttt….see if that ever happens). Like I said, put your money where your mouth is people. Give up your life savings, sacrifice your future and devote your life, unconditionally and with all the love in your big fat mouth (I mean hearts) and ….put your money where your mouth (heart) is. HA HA HA…. what a joke. Anyone that has a relationship with God (the real deal) would NEVER judge another soul. What would Jesus do eh? Smile…you are on Fake Religious Can [not] Did camera. Whhhaa whoooo…I’m sure you read your bibles today eh? (Smacks & two Thumbs up for the effort). Anyway…I love & feel for you lost souls that are so clueless you forget that the journey not the destination is knowking the love & grace of your Maker. Try this…go back to 2nd grade religious instruction and get in touch with reality. God Bless (I know Jesus forgives your stupidity…as he does all fools & children…or maybe that is just the Cops that police I285…I know somebody said that – lol) Pray for the Americans on Foreign & protect the Soliders right here in America … find a cause that you can DO SOMETHING about! Feed families & children alive. Adopt a pet or child with no home. Save your self for Pete’s sake. ROXY.
Tina
February 4th, 2010
10:58 pm
@ sarah: ell me you are not asking why a heartbeat is significant. Let yours stop beating and see what happens.
Tina
February 4th, 2010
11:00 pm
@ Sarah: typo…meant to type “Tell me…”
Roxy
February 4th, 2010
11:02 pm
By the way…. PS … bring on your comments & challenge me for I am not afraid. I know his peace. Do you? Guess what…if nothing changes… well then..nothing changes. Change me I welcome it. Embrace me and let me change you. Together we can learn twice as much.
Sarah
February 4th, 2010
11:02 pm
Tina, when are your brain waves going to begin? The heart is not the only significant life-sustaining organ in the body, and yet you people act like it means something.
I have a heartbeat and I’m actually living outside my mother’s womb. Do I get to attach myself to another person against his/her will in order to live off his/her bodily functions? Born people do not have the right to do such a thing; neither should the unborn. Start advocating for mandatory organ donation and I’ll take you seriously.
I wish anti-choicers would educate themselves about the definition of “for-profit” and “non-profit,” by the way. I’m sick of watching them make fools of themselves talking out of their asses.
Roxy
February 4th, 2010
11:03 pm
I see my first commentary has not been published (chicken livers…freaking Southern Baptist brain washing….fabulous people (HA HA)…
Sarah
February 4th, 2010
11:05 pm
Roxy I’m sure they’re too busy protesting universal health care and demonizing Obama and evil liberals as SOCIALISTS OOGA BOOGA! The proof is in the pudding: they do not care about life.
Tina
February 4th, 2010
11:09 pm
@ Sarah: I think I know you. You are this red-headed white girl who works tirelessly for the poor. But I digress. As a previous blooger said, you can tell when people are out of ammunition because they start hurling personal insults. If you think its ok to kill babies, then so be it. And clearly I know that a life cannot be sustained by the heart alone, but you would agree it’s sorta important if you wanna keep on livin. Certain stuff you can live without. I personally am missing a organ. The point about the heartbeat is that it is a clear signal that the life process has really begun. It is a beautiful thing. Stop advocating killing babies because some folks are griping about paying taxes.
csquared
February 4th, 2010
11:09 pm
@Roxy, 10:57pm That’s the most reasonable yet farfetched argument against the pro-lifers i’ve seen tonight.
Put up or shut up. You can’t have it both ways. If you DEMAND that women who get pregnant carry these children to term, what the H** are you prepared to do when they DO? The answer for most of them is NOTHING. ANd be sure, i’m not talking about volunteering at pregnancy centers, performing any number of “drives” and that cr*p. I’m talking about being there at 6:30 in the morning so that mom can get on MARTA for a two hour ride to work. Making sure that the CHILD you demanded be brought into the world can get healthcare at a reasonable cost. Making sure that this MOTHER doesn’t have to choose between being at work and being able to stay HOME with a sick child and NOT risking her job. I guarantee most of the RIGHTERS are from leisure classes and have no worries that REAL people do.
Tina
February 4th, 2010
11:12 pm
@ Sarah: and furthermore, it was the woman’s “choice” to have this “unborn” person attach itself to her and live off her when she laid down and had SEX WITHOUT PROTECTION. The baby did not just appear out of the thin air.
Sarah
February 4th, 2010
11:16 pm
Tina, you are not following. You are either unable to understand what I am saying or you are dodging my points. Even full-grown people with heartbeats are not legally permitted to use another person’s body against their will, so it does not matter when a fetus’ heartbeat begins. No matter what, is it alive ONLY because of a woman’s biology, which is why it is a woman’s decision whether or not to continue sustaining it’s life with her own body.
I think it’s cute that some dude admitted he and his ilk are anti-choice because they’re bitter some women they slept with made choices about their bodies. No, the baby didn’t appear out of thin air. Yet you never hear “shut your legs” directed at men.
Tina
February 4th, 2010
11:25 pm
Sarah: I am an educated professional just like you, so please don’t insult me by telling me that I am not following you. Just because you disagree with me that you don’t follow me, it simply means that you are ignoring any potentially valid point that I am making. I do not believe that you are stupid, but neither am I. Its just that I have been there, and I know both sides of the story. I also know that you cannot choose to live your life as you please, and then just end the life process of someone who will eventually exist outside the womb and become something really good. And if women (and I point out women because we are the ones who have the power to have babies–screw the men–this is about women looking out for themselves!) who for some reason do not want some little “parasite” latching onto them, then we do need to be more sexually responsible.
Tina
February 4th, 2010
11:26 pm
@ Sarah excuse typos: Just because you disagree with me does NOT mean that you don’t follow me.
Sarah
February 4th, 2010
11:27 pm
If you are educated that means you are intentionally dodging and misrepresenting and ignoring my points. Go tell a woman who’s aborted a wanted pregnancy due to threats to her health or fetal abnormality she should have shut her legs. You’ll really get what’s coming to you.
Juanita
February 4th, 2010
11:31 pm
Abortion should only be legal in severe cases where there is a distinct danger the child, or one of the suspected fathers, might be black.
csquared
February 4th, 2010
11:34 pm
shame on you for that Juanita, or is it Juan? either way it equals moron. go back to bed,. you have to be out of you gramma’s basement later today.
Tina
February 4th, 2010
11:35 pm
Sarah, So are you now limiting abortions to those with health threats and fetal defects? Well, I am one of those women. Thank God no fetal abnormalities that are currently detectable, but I am one of those women who faces serious threats to my own health by having a child but I am doing it anyway. And the point about shutting your legs is about those who are constantly irresponsible in their sex life as I once was–which is why I had four abortions. You cannot continue to keep having babies with no way to feed them or else keep getting pregnant and having abortions. Start thinking for your self because frankly your arguments sound like something you heard at your book club or something someone told you over a latte or whatever ya’ll call it.
baraqiel
February 4th, 2010
11:36 pm
@Tina – “The point about the heartbeat is that it is a clear signal that the life process has really begun.” That’s got to be the most arbitrary thing I’ve ever heard. “The life process”, as you put it, has been ongoing since the first single-celled organisms billions of years ago. There are not discrete points where one organism suddenly comes alive from nothing. The sperm and the egg are living cells, they come together to make the zygote, which is also a living cell, and the zygote undergoes mitosis to form new cells *without* the “life process” ever having been broken or having a discrete starting point. Having a heartbeat signifies nothing. You can live without a fully functional heart — medical science has progressed to the point where technology can make up the gap — and a heart stopping is not the medical definition of death. So I think you’re just being sentimental rather than rational here.
Moreover, statistically speaking, a majority of women who get abortions in the US were using contraception during the month when they got pregnant (cf the Guttmacher Institute).
Not to mention, this billboard makes no sense because the birth rate for black women is significantly higher than that of any other ethnic group in the U.S. except Asian/Pacific Islander woman. It’s incoherent to use the word “endangered” for a population that is growing.
Tina
February 4th, 2010
11:40 pm
@baraquiel: Wow, you are really going out of your way to defend killing babies. But anyway, I wish I could do this all night because it is interesting to hear other points of view, but it’s really time to go to sleep. I will probably read one last comment from Sarah and then try to go to sleep.
97 degree yogurt
February 4th, 2010
11:43 pm
Do pious individuals oppose abortion because they crave as much control over people as possible? (The main reason for religion in the first place)
Or is it because they are sad they may be losing a potential future member of their religion? (Increased market share)
Any thoughts?
baraqiel
February 4th, 2010
11:45 pm
Mmmm, I love it when stating simple facts is described as “going out of my way”. I’m just trying to help educate the masses, Tina! I consider it my calling in life — it’s really no trouble at all.
Sarah
February 4th, 2010
11:49 pm
Good grief, Tina; you’re a real piece of work. I am not limiting anything. I am pointing out that not all women who have abortions aborted unwanted fetuses. Some aborted wanted fetuses. So your “shut your legs” line doesn’t always apply. It’s misogynist at worst and plain stupid at best. You made your choices so you have to live with them. Let other women live their own lives.
Christine
February 5th, 2010
12:03 am
Tina, just because you were irresponsible doesn’t mean you get to dictate what other women can and should do. If you believe abortion is murder, then it follows that you also believe you yourself are a serial killer. Do you think you should be sentenced to life in prison? Please get off your high horse and try to do something positive with your life for once.
Just a Thought
February 5th, 2010
12:34 am
How many “pro-choice” people have actually had abortions? How many have suffered through the agony of the depression that ensues for years even as you constantly tell yourself….my baby would have been 5 years old…16 years old…etc.? That painful memory lasts a lifetime. Just the pain that follows is proof enough that killing your child is wrong! How many “pro-choicers” have suffered the agony and shame that follows complicated abortions as women literally rot and stink for weeks from the procedures? Or they break down crying uncontrollably at the most random times long after they have an abortion. This is the reality. Don’t sanitize it.
It is unnatural for a woman to “choose” to kill her child. Our society has so devalued life….especially the life of black people…that taking a life has become a political issue…a cause to be championed by advocates. This happens in a society where more people are concerned with someone wearing animal furs than protecting the most innocent and helpless human being on the planet…the unborn. As a society….we send a man to federal prison for killing DOGS but we legalize the murder of HUMAN BEINGS. No one can convince me that this makes any sense. Forget the “issue”. Just think about it from the perspective of a normal person. It doesn’t make sense. I agree that there needs to be more help for those living in poverty. Poverty is a problem. But never should circumstances dictate what is right and wrong.
Peggy Lehner
February 5th, 2010
12:39 am
Judging by all the comments the billboards are very effective. Listen to everyone finally talking about the disproportionate rate of abortion within the black community. Go GRTL-keep speaking the truth. People are listening.
Penny
February 5th, 2010
12:55 am
Just for the record- I have never met a more generous group of people than the pro-life community. These people spend their entire lives worrying about and handing over half of their paychecks to fund crisis pregnancy homes, diaper/formula drives, and daycares for moms who want to continue their education so they can support their families. . . and they don’t leave these women helpless after the baby is born, either. If they spend a small percentage of their efforts/money on informing women that Planned Parenthood executives don’t have their best interest at heart, how does this make them evil? (By the way, executives CAN make big money off of their non-profit organizations- have you checked the news lately???)
And contraceptives- Are you kidding!!!! Why do you think we have so many abortions? Every time a contraceptive fails, and they DO, another child is at risk of being snuffed out by his/her own mom. Hitler would have loved the idea of convincing the Jewish race to kill their own children.
southmedic
February 5th, 2010
1:26 am
i am against abortion, but to say that black children are becoming an endangered species is ludicrous. south georgia is being overrun with black children, most from single mothers with 3-4 kids whose fathers don’t take care of them bc they have 3-4 other kids by 3-4 other women.
IhatePETA&ProLifers
February 5th, 2010
1:43 am
This ad was made by some ignorant krakkkerz!!! Anyone with sense knows black women don’t get abortions.
1. Afraid of God. Thou shalt not kill
2. They like welfare checks or child support
3. They can keep a life long contact with the baby daddy
4. Somebody to love them when baby daddy leaves for the next best thing.
Abbysenia
February 5th, 2010
2:20 am
These clinics must REALLY be well hid. I’m black. I frequent black neighborhoods. I know women (black women) who have had abortions and I don’t recall them saying they were in black communities or, that they were TARGETED or pressured to have abortions. I know some people that probably should have had an abortion (I know that’s horrible to say, but you don’t know the people) and a few who probably should’ve had vasectomies. But I digress; I’m very leery of this statistic. It could be true…but I know people impassioned can be sloppy with their numbers if not down right lie. I work with pregnant women all day. I work with women, with private and public coverage. The U.S. population is still growing. The black population is still growing. From my casual observations…I don’t see black babies to be an endangered group. Now I see black MEN who the babies grow up to be as being endangered. I know this is about Georgia…but I have heard that Mississippi…which has a VERY high proportion of black residences has only ONE abortion clinic. Does anyone know who true this is!? But concluding, if these people are so concerned about babies being aborted…I would like to seem them distributing more condoms and devoting more resources to child care…but then I guess that would bee too easy.
Heidi
February 5th, 2010
2:51 am
I didn’t know Black people were a separate species. This is beyond insulting.
rothstein
February 5th, 2010
5:38 am
Find instant medical insurance for you from http://bit.ly/atGzeD
StoliBob
February 5th, 2010
5:50 am
I totally agree. The abortions are necessary, we already have too many NBA thugs, too much crime, and too many people. After all, people today aren’t responsible for their actions, so lets eliminate a potential problem. Feel free to pencil me in as RACIST.
Try Me
February 5th, 2010
6:20 am
Always interesting to see how committed white liberals are to preserving high rates of abortion in the black community.
Pandora
February 5th, 2010
7:27 am
I have read some of these comments and I have a question…why do you people keep saying ‘black….poor’? First of all if a person is black DOES not automatically make them poor. Second of all I worked at an abortion clinic before and do you know what I witnessed? WHITE WOMEN!!! They were of all classes. There were about 90% of white women and 10% black women there to have an abortion! So stop saying it’s only black and poor women! Women of ALL ECONOMIC backgrounds have abortions..oh btw..the clinic is located in Midtown Atlanta – a predominately white area….at any rate women of all economic backgrounds are having abortions and killing innocent babies! I am totally against abortions…the sign need to show babies of other races as well. They need to have white babies, latino babies, asian babies…women of all races are having abortions…
Average Joe
February 5th, 2010
7:27 am
The black community needs a hand up rather than more of the same 40 years of a government provided crutch. More black role models like Mr. Bill Cosby need to come forward and mentor the young to provide and environment that is beneficial to the child and family as a whole. The single parent mentality of the black community has to change; otherwise the behavioral pattern of the youth will never be broken. The volatile issue of abortion will never be solved on this type of blog, nor by the government. However, the issue of abortion in the black community will need to championed by the true leaders and educators of the black church and families , not the Rev. Jessie Jackson’s of the world looking for the next media sound bite.
Bree
February 5th, 2010
7:50 am
It’s a woman’s choice. No one has the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. If you’re a man, you have no say in this whatsoever. And for those who are yelping about how it’s “murder”…what about the sperm that go in the condom after sex? Those are also living things who are killed through suffocation and then deposited in a trash can.
Sarah
February 5th, 2010
8:05 am
“As a society….we send a man to federal prison for killing DOGS but we legalize the murder of HUMAN BEINGS. No one can convince me that this makes any sense.”
It makes perfect sense to me. Do you know what “sentient” means? I’d save a born animal (of any species) who can feel pain, fear, agony, etc. over a freaking fertilized egg (of any species) any day.
DBH
February 5th, 2010
8:06 am
Uh, Bree, we’re talking about HUMAN life, not just living “things.” Sperm, in and of itself, does not constitute human life, so if it dies it dies. Human life begins at CONCEPTION and, as I hope you know, a sperm cannot conceive by itself. Sheesh! :-/
DBH
February 5th, 2010
8:25 am
Sarah: You talk about “born” animals, but you do realize, don’t you, that at 20 weeks of gestation, all pain receptors and anatomical links to the brain for feeling pain are in place in the developing UNBORN child?
In fact, Dr. Robert J. White, professor of neurosurgery at Case Western Reserve University, has affirmed that (direct quote from Dr. White): “An unborn child at 20 weeks gestation is fully capable of experiencing pain. Without question, abortion is a dreadfully painful experience for any infant subject to such a surgical procedure.” Conversely, Dr. Steven Calvin, perinatologist, University of Minnesota, states: “The neural pathways are present for pain to experienced quite early in unborn babies.”
So, I really hope you’re not trying to argue that only the “born” feel pain.