The Problem Speaking about Disproportion of Abortion Among Black Community
More than half of black babies in New York City are aborted rather than born according to the Wall Street Journal. Often times our teams see a large proportion of black families coming to the Abortion center. Most of our sidewalk volunteers in Charlotte are white women. We have found that it is very difficult for us to speak at all about the seriousness of black babies being disproportionately killed in abortion. It usually just arouses anger. How should we navigate this issue?
Black Volunteers Can Do So More Effectively
In general, we find that a black sidewalk volunteer can speak more effectively to black women entering the abortion center. My experience has been that if I, a white woman, speak about the racial injustice of abortion, it often evokes anger. It’s usually not helpful. I have never yet seen someone convinced that they should not go into a Planned Parenthood because of Margaret Sanger‘s obvious eugenics strategy. It may happen, but I do not believe it is common. I also have not yet met a black abortion-determined woman who is swayed by the argument that in some cities, more black babies are killed by Abortion than born.
Should We Force the Issue?
This is not to say that presenting the facts of the racial injustice of abortion, especially in minority communities, should be ignored. However, I would not recommend that it be a major topic of discussion in the precious few seconds that we have to call out to the women. As always, I would recommend the counselor focus on the three talking points: God, humanity of the baby, and resources.
What Guttmacher Institute Claims Is the REAL Problem
Planned Parenthood cannot ignore the fact that so many black babies and Hispanic babies are killed by Abortion. The Guttmacher institute, which gathers statistics about abortion, and is clearly a right arm of Planned Parenthood, takes a different spin on this statistic. They say that the reason more minority women have abortions is because they do not have the same access as white women to birth control. The result is more unplanned pregnancies in minority women. To reduce abortions, they suggest improving access and use of contraceptives. This becomes another troubling agenda of ignoring the issue of single parenthood and sex outside of marriage, and suggesting that more social programs should provide contraceptives to help with the disproportion of minority abortions. The fact that the contraceptives they recommend are known to sometimes cause abortions themselves is apparently irrelevant to them.
Anger Aroused Simply by Our Presence
Even when we do not talk about anything related to race, there are times people are angry at me simply for being there offering help. I have been accused of wanting to keep black women “on the plantation!” I have even been threatened for trying to talk to them at all, because of our country’s past history with slavery. I have been told I have NO right to speak given my race. In these instances, I tell them I am there for one purpose: for all women whether black or white. I am offering hope, and HELP, in the name of Jesus because babies are a gift from God made in His holy image, no matter what color they are. Sometimes this helps the situation, but not always.
Diverse Racial Make-up of Sidewalk Team is Helpful
We are always so grateful for the Hispanic and Black team members that join us because this sometimes reduces the racial tension. Sadly, there are times the black women who stand alongside us are called traitors to their people. Despite all the struggles, I believe there are general principles that help us to de-escalate the racial tension out on the sidewalk.
General Principles
1. Do not respond with anger or take it personally.
2. Remind women that you are there offering help.
3. If they ask you to stop talking to them, do so.
4. Do not get into arguments with them about the disproportion of abortion among black women.
5. We have developed a handout for Planned Parenthood, which mentions some of these facts, and it is better to let the pamphlet do the talking and less likely to cause aggression.
6. Do not wear potentially provocative slogans on hats or T-shirts. For example, shirts that say, “all lives matter” is often a trigger of anger. This is not the time to be making political statements. We have plenty of things to say to people without touching on racial issues.
7. Abortion centers are usually in minority neighborhoods. They are usually in poor areas as well. We are instantly perceived as unjustly privileged. While this is unfair, it is the reality. We should deal with that reality with Grace.
8. Never neglect the gospel. Both the black and Hispanic population tend to believe in God, and it is often an effective approach to mention God and ask what he would have them do.
Facts About Black Population and Abortion:
(From https://rtl.org/multicultural-outreach/black-abortion-statistics/)
*More than 20 million Black babies have been aborted since the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision legalized abortion in our country.
*Non-Hispanic Black women have a significantly higher abortion rate (23.8 per 1000 women of reproductive age) than that of Non-Hispanic Whites (6.6) and Hispanics (11.7).
*38.4% of all reported abortions in the U.S. in 2019 were performed on Black women, however, only about 13.4% of the total population is Black.
*African-Americans are no longer the nation’s largest minority group. Today, Hispanics have outpaced Blacks in population growth.
*For every 1,000 live births, non-Hispanic Black women had 386 abortions. Non-Hispanic White women had 117 abortions/1,000 live births.
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