“Turnin this woman’s womb into a tomb
But she and I agree, a seed we don’t need
You would’ve been much more than a mouth to feed
But someone, I woulda fed this information I read
to someone, my life for you I woulda had to leave
Instead I lead you to death
I’m sorry for takin your first breath, first step, and first cry
But I wasn’t prepared mentally nor financially
Havin a child shouldn’t have to bring out the man in me
Plus I wanted you to be raised within a family
I don’t wanna, go through the drama of havin a baby’s momma.”
-Common “Retrospect for Life”
*This is not a post about pro-life or pro-choice per se. More so about the genocide of black babies*
When I first saw the above ad I was in an outrage. Disturbed to say the least. At that very moment-like so many other moments in my life- I wanted to be an activist, drive to Atlanta and march, demanding the dismantling of all these ads.
Radiance Foundation, the organization responsible for the ads stands behind its marketing strategy to target black women. It is evident that this ad is problematic. Furthermore, since when is it ok to call black babies endangered species? Spare me the argument that we are all a part of the homosapien species. Historically, anytime humans have referred to an “endangered species” it has been in reference to animals. I highly doubt if we were talking about white babies, the term species would have been used so carelessly.
But once I found out the real issue at hand I was less concerned about the ad and more concerned with my findings. Don’t get me wrong, the ad still doesn’t sit well with me.
I immediately went into research mode. According to co-founder of Radiance Foundation, Ryan Bomberger, 35 billboards were erected by Feb. 15, throughout Georgia. Why were the people of GA allowing these billboards to be put up without so much as a fuss? And who says that abortion is more of an issue in the black community in comparison to the Latina, white or Asian communities? Yes, statistics show that 56% of abortions performed in Georgia were on black women. Yet, can these statistics be trusted when abortions are supposed to be performed confidentially?
After reading the article on Atlanta Journal Constitution I stayed up until 3:30 in the morning reading all the comments. Reading comments on any newspaper article, blog or YouTube video makes it apparent America has bred some truly inane members of society. I visited toomanyaborted.com and came across the maafa21.com website. Maafa21.com created a documentary to expose the genocide of the 21st century carried out through birth control and abortion, in particularly examining the No. 1 abortion provider in the country-Planned Parenthood.
Curious to learn more, I searched for this documentary on YouTube. Lo and behold, I found the entire documentary broken into 13 parts. For more than 2 hours I sat in front of my laptop learning, shaking my head, questioning, and sickened by the information I had just absorbed.
Without retelling the documentary in its entirety I will touch on a few of the major points:
- Eugenics is the study of methods of improving genetic qualities by selective breeding. In other words, the Eugenics Movement’s goal was to exterminate the black race by preventing their reproduction via birth control, forced sterilization, and later abortion.
- Margaret Sanger, founder of the American Birth Control League, renamed Planned Parenthood, was a racist, heavily involved in the Eugenics movement. There are quotes of her in several publications blatantly stating her views on the importance of the extermination of the black race.
- In the 1960’s and 1970’s the Black Panther Party, Black Nationalists, Dick Gregory, Alveda King (Martin Luther King Jrs. niece), Jesse Jackson and countless others labeled birth control and abortion as black genocide. They did not sugar coat it to be politically correct, they outright said it and opposed it.
- Presidents such as Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, George Bush, and President Clinton-yes the same man yall coined the first black president-were firm supporters of population control. They were advocates for contraceptives and abortion. Please don’t ever think it’s because they really believe in the woman’s right to choose. Instead they believe the government will save millions of dollars on welfare, education, and health care for the poor if they can keep the poor from having babies. Well, we all know who is disproportionately poor in this country-black folks.
- Many of the people in the Eugenics Movement were allies of Adolf Hitler even consulting with him on how to “maintain a pure race.”
- Every week more black babies die in abortion clinics than were killed in the entire Vietnam War. 94 % of Planned Parenthood’s are built in impoverished black neighborhoods. $1 million in tax payer dollars per day go to Planned Parenthood. They receive over $350 million in government funding every year.
So what does this all mean?
At the very least I think it means we have to wake up and pay attention. But, more importantly we are blinded by what is going on right under our noses. In the 21st century, Margaret Sanger’s plan to terminate the black race is succeeding. Now I won’t pretend as if I’m a firm believer in statistics. Oftentimes, I think statistics are skewed to misrepresent the truth. But, I can’t deny the thoroughness of this documentary and how logical it all seems.
When is the last time you’ve been to or drove through the hood? Did you notice any Planned Parenthood’s? Chances are you did. I can think of one off the top of my head in my hometown. This is not a coincidence. According to the CDC the number one killer of black people is NOT HIV, heart disease or cancer. It’s abortion. Since 1973, the legalization of abortion in Roe v. Wade, supposedly 15 million black babies have been aborted. I’m certain the next Malcolm X or Marcus Garvey or Shirley Chisolm was a part of those 15 million babies who were never given a chance.
If a woman chooses to abort her child, that is her choice. But, when my tax dollars contribute to the establishment of Planned Parenthood, it becomes my business. We are allowing Planned Parenthood to build their facilities in our neighborhoods, then we support them by becoming patrons of their businesses. Yes, patrons of a business that has an agenda to eradicate our race by controlling our reproduction.
What’s sad is not so much the agenda of government officials, Presidents, donors of Planned Parenthood, and the likes. I mean I wouldn’t expect anything different from a country built on white supremacy. What is sad however, is the mentality black people have adopted. Brainwashed into believing we are inadequate and incapable of greatness, many of us fall into the trap of believing the propaganda implanted in our minds via the media. Most of the comments I read on the AJC article blamed black women for milking the system while taxpayers cuff the bill. Hello, the highest percentage of people on welfare is WHITE WOMEN. So it’s actually my taxpayer dollars paying to support white chicks and their babies. But the media will have you believe Shaniqua is the face of welfare.
Instead of standing by and allowing our money to support such an evil organization, why not demand those government funds be placed into inner city schools and parenting programs that assist women who have children? Or what about resources for the children born to a single mother? It seems tax dollars would be much more useful in that regard. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon that black women have too many babies that they can’t support, let’s not forget the historical context of slavery. We are still very much suffering from the psychological affects of slavery. We are not solely to blame for our societal ills.
If we are not part of the solution, we’re part of the problem. How much longer will we contribute to the genocide of black babies by doing nothing?
“You can truly say the most dangerous place for an African-American to be, is in the womb of its African-American mother.” –Clenard Childress
Article by Bené Viera
Bené is a freelance writer, journalist and blogger. She blogs about relationships, culture and her life at http://www.writingwhileblack.com
Bené has written 18 article(s) for us.
{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }
Amazing, I definitely learned something. Thank you for sharing this insightful article. Ive been saying it over and over, that this generation is spoiled. No longer are we reading books but now were reading facebook statuses. We are tweeting our lives away while the country is giving extermination medicine to our community in more than one form without a fight. Often our people claim not to have anything to stand up for, I am a firm believe that injustice is all around us. That if we keep waiting on someone to speak up and be OUR leader we will wait forever and our neighborhoods will continue to lie in ruins.
Your article struck a chord that our next Malcolm X, or MLK was being flushed and drained in some science lab. Where is the outrage?
Wow. This article definitely hits close to home with me. I know of too many people who use abortions as birth control, and it is sad. My passion is maternal and child health, and I definitely learned something new from this article. Thank you for sharing your research.
Wow! I feel so enlightened, upset and dumbfounded. I actually cannot formulate anything to respond with because this post hits on so many levels. 15 million black children aborted since 1973?! Again, all I can say is Wow.
WOW. Just… wow! I wish I was articulate enough in mornings to actually respond to this well. But let me try.
LOVED this post! So thought-provoking. Planned Parenthood is certainly never in a city's downtown.
But lemme play Devil's Advocate. What are your responses when folks say "Well the reason PParenthood is needed in the hood is that teenage pregnancy is higher there?" or "The poor give birth to children they can't take care of so maybe they need the services."
What say ye?
Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I love when people play devil's advocate. LOL. In all seriousness though I will say that, not in certainty, but if we looked at actual numbers, I don't know that teen pregnancy is higher in the black community. But, let's say it is. What about other organizations similar to PP who don't have such a strong history of attempting to eradicate the black race? I'm not saying businesses that offer these services are not needed. But, I damn sure don't want PP in our communities. I'm not in opposed to birth control, and I am sometimes wavering on my abortion stance, but it is disheartening to think that our tax dollars are pumped into such an evil organization. What about we use the $350 million dollars per year that Planned Parenthood receives and put it into sex education, resources, providing free birth control, or assisting the poor black women who already have babies? I think the money could be utilized in a much better way. I probably didn't answer your question, but I tried.
Well said! Great article! Great logic. *slow clap*
Is there a correlation between the number of black abortions and the number of planned parenthoods in the black community? Maybe, but to me that is a stretch. Majority of women do not have an abortion because planned parenthood is up the street, if they were in white neighborhoods the numbers would be the same. Yes you can look at planned parenthood and call it evil because of its beginnings, but you cannot deny that the organization provides much services and at an affordable costs, i.e. birth control to prevent unwanted pregnancy and pelvic examinations that can detect cancer and stds. Heck, the Democratic party beginnings were not favorable for African American people, so should I not support the Democratic Party now? I never knew that Planned Parenthood provided abortions service until a year ago and I am pretty sure that I am not the only one. Planned Parenthood agenda may have been the eradication of the African American race, but the organization did not place a gun to anybody's head and said "you have to have the abortion." You have to ask yourself why these women are choosing to have abortions in the first place. Is it because of medical reasons, were they raped, do they have family support, etc, etc. People can demonize parenthood all they want, but I can bet money on this, even if you take planned parenthood out of all the black communities, the number of abortions will not change. Reason being is that no one solved the problem of why the person felt that they had to have the abortion in the first place.
Despite the information presented above, I am still thinking in terms of accountability.
The point I certainly agree with is that more money/time (resources) need to be spent on pregnancy prevention and sex education. I don't think the answer is to jockey for the ban of abortion. The answer is to provide more resources to those more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior.
Back to the thought of accountability. I observed a homeless woman who was pregnant with her 9th child. After the 4th or 5th, I'm not sure that you need more education on the how to clip the wings of birds and bees. You need to think, well gosh darn, I'm homeless and can't adequately provide for the 8 children I already have. Perhaps I should get some condoms. Heck, if I can scrap up money to provide some basics for my 8 children, perhaps I could go down to Planned Parenthood and inquire about getting my tubes tied. Or even take what I've observed recently. More than 5 women I know in the past year who are educated, gainfully employed ect have had the big 'oops I'm pregnant,' moment.
On Planned Parenthood: A friend of mine educated me that, "Planned Parenthood as an orgaisation performs and provides MANY services to Americans across many different racial, ethnic and economic categories. However, the undeserved and underprivileged are the most served. Of those services, LESS THAN 5% are abortion related. The majority of services offered have to do with reproductive rights, basic medical, sex education, and access to contraceptives. As an organisation it has evolved well past the intentions or thoughts of its founder….What other establishments evolved past the intentions/thoughts of its founders: The USA."
I'd challenge people outraged by this information to go to Planned Parenthood and volunteer for community outreach programs to educate those prone to have unprotected/no contraception sex. Helll, buy condoms for your girlfriends on their next birthday – we act all prudish about sex, but then ask, "how did you get pregnant when you weren't tryign to?"
I don't support these caustic pro-life organizations becuase I simply don't think communities could absorb the impact of outlawing abortion (as sad as it may sound). On one hand folks complain about raised taxes, but are outraged when government doesn't do enough. I wrote a sarcastic e-mail to that organization, asking them to lobby the Georgia politicians for higher taxes while they spend time on caustic billboards. My thought process was: Due to budget constraints, Dekalb County has to shut down 23 schools. If you are to ban abortion, more children will be in the education system; therefore, we would need an increased revenue source for education. And we know that education is paralyzing the black community…which leads to poor employment rates.
Just had random thoughts that I'm gonna bullet briefly while I let my thoughts fully formulate:
Yes there are more white woman that are on welfare but that is because the white population is larger than the black population. We have a higher percentage of our population on welfare though.
I sat and wondered why there aren't more statistics on Latin/Hispanic abortions. Could be because they are very rooted in the Catholic religion and believe any form of contraception (even condoms…..of course these beliefs are held for married couples) is preventing life.
Has anyone ever noticed that in those Birth Control commercials for Yaz, the ring and the shot there is always a black woman being featured?
Our mentality about abortion is skewed as it is. I work with young girls who have said to me without a second thought and casually, "I can always go and get an abortion" as if it's as easy as going to the store and buying a candy bar.
"Has anyone noticed that in those Birth Control commercials for Yaz, the ring and the shot there is always a black women being featured?"
The two black girls out of five white girls. If the number of black girls in a birth control commercial had any effect on contraception usage, then more black girls/ woman would use contraceptives and prevent unwanted pregnancy.
That bullet was leading to my next point:
A black woman is always featured in a Birth Control commercial but after reading this post, will we be more upset if said commercial featured no blacks, all blacks or is the 2 to 5 ratio accurate for the usage of Birth Control?
Here are my assumptions. If a birth control commercial featured all blacks, it can be looked at as the eradication of a race. If it featured all caucasians or a mixture of races, then it is just an informative commercial that teaches women about various birth control methods. With public sensitivity it can go either way. Personally, I feel that there is no reason to be upset about the numbers of blacks featured in prescription commercials because the type of commercial you saw should not be a determining factor when it comes to your health. Birth control pills are not this new phenomena, and people have been choosing to use or not use birth control pills for some time now and without the help of commercials.
Whoa. Things like "..improving genetic qualities by selective breeding." and "$1 million in tax payer dollars per day go to Planned Parenthood." truly upset Me. I cannot believe this has been overlooked for so long.
I'm glad someone brought this issue to the forefront. I'm not certain that black women are "targeted"? BUT, the history of Planned Parenthood, the motivations of Margaret Sanger, the strategic planting of Planned Parenthoods in the 'hood as well as the numbers of black babies being aborted are ALL things that cannot be ignored. Obviously, the key is education and prevention; however something has to be done when both education and prevention fail. Abortion is not the answer.
What is always odd to me…and I feel some kind of way about saying this…is the role the church plays in the number of abortions. As much as churches rally against Planned Parenthood, unfortunately, too many help their cause. Decrying premarital sex, lack of support for pregnant girls in their church, no push for adoptions from the pulpit and more all contribute to the shame an unwed pregnant black woman could feel and increase the likelihood of Christian black girls having abortions in secret.
I'm less concerned with the number (although the number is utterly devastating) than I am with the "why". Why are all of these abortions being performed in the black community? Especially when it seems like everybody and their (black) momma has a kid. WHO is having abortions? I don't know. Something I've just been thinking about….GREAT ARTICLE Bene
Thank you Alissa! Love your comments. Letting it all soak in now. But, I want to wholeheartedly agree with you on the black church aspect. *preparing to be stoned* but this must be said: the black church has failed our people in many many ways.
Knew all of that about Planned Parenthood…took my girl there to get cheap birth control. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Planned Parenthood is the reason why black babies are "endangered." I would say that there's a great deal of ignorance in the communities that PP sets up at, so perhaps PP is no more than a tool for said ignorant person to relieve themselves of their…ummm…"problem."
15 million babies aborted, and you're sure there is a Malcolm X or such somewhere. That's being almost blindly positive. Alot of those children were probably born to poor families is shitty environments to mothers who were likely unfit, not ready, whatever, to have children. Chances are, I'd be willing to be on one of those kids ending up in jail, strung out on drugs, or being an early death statistic then being the next front leader of the African American race. Yes, that's morbid, and done intentionally so to say, we have no idea what those kids would become, so it does make sense to swing one way or the other.
I have no issues with PP (despite the issues of it's initial start up) but I'm having a hard time connecting this with Eugenics. What Adolf Hitler did, was round up all the Jewish people and murdered them. What the Presidents are saying is "Gee…we'd sure save alot of money if people stopped having so many kids that we had to support with government money." While black people may or may not have been the subject of that conversation, that conversation mostly boiled down to money. So if white women are taking up all the damn welfare, we need to stop they ass from having kids and drop some PPs in the middle of Whitesville, USA if it means they'll stop taking money out my check behind this shit.
In short…if the ad is is ATL…and alot of ATLiens are having abortions…then it makes sense. If not…somebody call somebody and go march somewhere about it. I know black people take issue with everybody that attacks us…but sometimes, man…you just have to call a spade, a spade.
Preach Garfield. Call a spade a spade. People never ask, "well okay, how would the black community absorb the influx of otherwise unwanted lives." Are folks willing to pay increased taxes? Adopt? Volunteer more time to children whose parents could care less about them?
I’d challenge people outraged by this information to go to Planned Parenthood and volunteer for community outreach programs to educate those prone to have unprotected/no contraception sex. Helll, buy condoms for your girlfriends on their next birthday – we act all prudish about sex, but then ask, “how did you get pregnant when you weren’t trying to?”
Well clearly I disagree and that's ok. Never once did I say PP was the only reason black babies were "endangered." Actually, I don't even think I blatantly said I agreed they were endangered. What I did say is that far to many black children are being murdered via abortion, and PP is the number one culprit of that. The whole point of the post was to educate and inform. I guarantee that more than half of the women who are patrons of PP do not know its history. Yes, I am "blindly sure" that out of those many children that were aborted there were hundreds who would have gone on to become great leaders and thinkers in our community. You say, "Alot of those children were probably born to poor families is shitty environments to mothers who were likely unfit, not ready, whatever, to have children. Chances are, I’d be willing to be on one of those kids ending up in jail, strung out on drugs, or being an early death statistic then being the next front leader of the African American race." That sounds ridiculous. Of course, not all 15 million would have been the next Malcolm X, which anyone could see I was using as a figure of speech, but not all of them would have been the next dope fiend either. You are equating poverty with choices. Majority of our great leaders were products of poverty or single parent households. So I'm not quite sure what point you were trying to make. The ad is still problematic in many of the ways that were discussed in this post, and by some of the comments. It's a lot deeper than "calling a spade a spade."
Lets just say that everyone became informed of Planned parenthood beginnings. Where do we go from there?
I understand your concern about planned parenthood beginnings, however at what point do we stop looking at what was and start looking at what is?
Eugenics is a stain of scientific endeavors. I say this as a scientist, as Biologist. Eugenics was an attempt to use scientific words and reasoning to reach a political agenda. It borrowed heavily from evolution (an emerging field a the time), population biology, heredity (Genetics as we know it today did not exist), and Malthusian economic theory. It was the whip of social darwinism.
Despite the ugliness of eugenics & social darwinism, the scientific concepts from which they borrowed (and hijacked in my opinion, because now we can hardly address important topics like population growth, birth rate, death rate, etc without some applying a racist or classist agenda), cannot be discussed to deal with some very real and pressing society concerns such as a) population size and growth, b) family planning, c) financial & nutritional preparedness for b and d) stemming inter-generational poverty.
a-d are very real issues, pressing issues. there are serious consequence to the whole world, but particuarly for poor people, people from resource poor nations/communites and people of color and women.
Despite the ugly history and the possible indications of racist/classist intentions of some of the leaders you have mentioned I am still a big proponent of reproductive choice (birth control, voluntary sterilization, abortion), deliberate family planning (limited family size, delayed birth and moderate birth interval) and educational/financial preparedness for children. I believe in choice and options. I do not support programs or agendas that force or limit a persons options so severely that they do something to have fewer babies. Choice, options, privacy, and freedom to exercise these decisions is the hallmark of feminism…and I am a proud feminist.
What are articles like this reallyabout?
In my opinion this article has helped african-americans once more pit the failure of the black family on the black female. Now, I personally do not support abortion, but i don't judge either. However, it is so ironic that the black female is now categorized as a MURDER?!?!?
“You can truly say the most dangerous place for an African-American to be, is in the womb of its African-American mother.” –Clenard Childress"
What this quote negates to tell is that the mother is at the firing end of a African American MAN….who ironically she HAS raised. But since you brought the quote in let's talk about it for a moment. Could it be that this particular womb is so dangerous because the mother is stressed, malnourished, abused, judged, impoverished, struggling, threatend and degraded on a daily basis? That the only choice a mother may know for her child is a quick death in the womb or a slow death in the world? Where are you at DADDY's?! Call it hating, or shifting the blame…whatever …the fact is these women are having abortions because they don't have faith in African American Men!! The same african-american men that said "that aint my baby!" "i aint raising no baby by you" "I hate you" "you trying to trap me" "I cant afford no kids" and the 'f–K you!" you've all heard the various ways that "i'm not going to help you raise your child" has come across. THAT'S GENOCIDE! DELIBERATE DESTRUCTION!
Walk in on the coversation between a man and a woman where he says "dont kill my baby" and subsequently fail the mother and his child. Find the conversation where he says "thats YOUR baby" "I dont want it" or the ones who don't want to pay child support, don't want nothing to do with the mothers or their children…and in the midst of that coversation I dare you turn to the mother and say…have the baby anyway!!!
Yet we've turned a blind shoulder to that reality. I have never heard of anyone "skipping" into the abortion clinic. I have never heard someone rejoice at shedding their own blood, at the lost chance. (And by the way…that bs about that could have been the next so and so… is just an excuse for why somebody else hasn't stepped up to the plate!! Get it together!! Shoulda woulda coulda…you are here make your own difference!!)
But lets just say that these women are strong and brave enough to have the baby despite it all. Is that black community any better?? You STILL are going to have a breakdown in the black community becaust the black family is still broken…and why….no black fathers!
Blame Planned parenthood all you want….its just a means to an end
Inform and educate. I'll say that again. This is what the blog was about. Never did I say the black women is to blame. Again, this post wasn't about the structural institutions of racism that keep black women impoverished or to address why black women are becoming pregnant at higher rates in the first place. You've gone on a tangent as if I, a black woman, don't realize the conversations you're quoting don't happen. Yeah I've overheard them several times. However, this post was not about that though. Nor did I say "oh look yall PP is the only culprit of killing black babies. It's all their fault while our community is in the state it is in." Where did I say this? I think you completely missed the point. But, I still take heed to your comments. Thanks.
I don't think I missed the point at all. You put it out there, you called it genocide, and you closed the article with the quote " “You can truly say the most dangerous place for an African-American to be, is in the womb of its African-American mother.” –Clenard Childress”. Even if those aren't your exact words you watched a video and reported it to be true without flippling the coin. You may have never explicitly said that "black women were to blame" but you left out some SERIOUS factors that affect that number. You don't have to talk about every issue that affects the data, but you could have least told both sides of the story. Even if you did it briefly, applying it to your PERSONAL knowledge as a black woman.
***NOTE: Okay, I didn't realize my comment was gonna be so long. Sorry!
First let me say, that I have not been a fan of Planned Parenthood in the longest amount of time. Some are for reasons stated in this article and some are actually for reasons directly opposite. It is no secret that Planned Parenthood is known to be skeevy when it comes to covering up wrongful abortions, etc. However, they also have their hand in wrongfully discouraging abortions.
The last semester of my senior year in college, I became familiar with a young lady who worked very heavily in reproductive justice. In speaking with her, I was able to gather a different perspective of PP. One of the things she told me was how she talked to women who went into PPs and were shown videos of late term abortions, even if the women need no more than a pill in order to terminate pregnancy. So, they have played both sides of the fence.
Also, there are abortion groups who crusade against Planned Parenthood, because of the lack of affordability of services provided in these communities. Abortions typically start at $430 dollars and increase the further along in pregnancy. So while these centers may set up shop in minority communities they aren't necessarily the greatest resource. Another thing to mention, in the spirit of discreteness, Planned Parenthood centers erected in minority communities often host white women who travel from their communities, to get services performed. So while they are in our communities and make abortions more obtainable it isn't always about marketing to black women.
Additionally, there has to be some accountability. Black women over twenty five make up a larger percentage of those who get an abortion. Of these women and Black women that are younger, statistics show they are more likely to have one child already. They seek out the clinics, the clinics do not seek them out. Furthermore, we have to be aware of Black women who fought for the accessibility of services such as abortions in our communities. They have become a marginalized voice and as a result their efforts are overshadowed by the fearmongering of genocide.
It was these women who actually fought for establishments like Planned Parenthood to be placed in minority communities to provide safer alternatives. Interestingly, while the article highlights Alveda King as a staunch critic of this "Black Genocide," she benefited from abortion, twice.
Oh and if they are bringing up Presidents such as Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, George Bush, and President Clinton please throw in President Obama in the mix. You see, we allow ourselves to be narrowminded and blast Planned Parenthood being in our communities and the fact that our taxpayer money goes to fund this operation. However we ignore the fact that Obama is very pro-abortion, including a litmus test on Supreme Court Justices to support having taxpayers fund these abortions. Not only that, but speaking of genocide, Obama supports live birth abortions. How many of you all going so hard against planned Planned Parenthood voted for Obama? Things that make you go hmmm… ain't it?
While we are not completely beyond the days of forced sterilizations, there has been great progress in combating that injustice. Furthermore, beyond the scope of Planned Parenthood in our communities that activists say market to minority women, we cannot turn our focus away from societal factors that actually make abortions seem like the better "choice." I use "choice" loosely because there are a obviously a myriad of constraints such as economic and institutional factors, that often restrict choices for women of color. Nevertheless, we should not be seen as passive victims, always under the preying eye of Planned Parenthoods.
Besides, when African American women make up 72 percent of the new HIV/AIDS cases it's obvious that there is correlation somewhere with both disease rates and abortion rates based on the the fact that we are not protecting ourselves. That should also be one of the real issues that gets tackled in our communities, before we start going in on Planned Parenthood.
Black people throw fits about the 70 percent of African American babies being born out of wedlock. Which in turn is mind boggling to me how we turn around and throw fits about Planned Parenthood in communities, when in fact, like it or not, without Planned Parenthood that number of OOW babies would be higher. We are a community of hypocrisy and sometimes I believe laziness when it comes to tackling the real issues. All in all, Planned Parenthood isn't the end all and be all of "Black Genocide."
You better get it dropping more knowledge!!!!!!! *church fan wave*
This*….I remember back when I first started researching Eugenics and all that, and honestly, what you just said summed up my thoughts.
Word.
Well said. Agreed. But, where did I say PP is the "end all be all of Black genocide?" Or could it be that I was only informing people about the historical context of the PP that many of our women support? It is impossible in one blog to attack: institutional racism, why women of color are having abortion at higher rates, the percentage of black women having kids out of wedlock, the male's responsibility in all this, other societal ills in our community, etc. Of course, I am aware of EVERYTHING you just mentioned in your comment, but in trying to convey one perspective, it does a huge disservice to try to discuss very complex issues as the ones I mentioned above, all in one post. It's nearly impossible. "We are a community of hypocrisy & sometimes I believe laziness…" Definitely not lazy.
I apologize. I wasn't trying to come off as thought I expected you to try to convey every single factor in your post, that I was able to do in my response. I guess I inferred incorrectly the importance of Planned Parenthood in your argument because once you introduced them as the Number 1 abortion providing service it just seemed to me as though there was no other focus in this article. Even after the historical analysis you zoned in on the presence of PP in the hood, asked and answered if people had seen one, and concluded that it wasn't a coincidence which made it sound like you thought PP was the driving force behind Black genocide.
Then you touched on the fact they receive tax dollars and stated how you'd want your tax dollars to go somewhere else and not the "evil" PP. You suggested that we use the 300 million dollars given to PP to be placed in inner city schools, and parenting programs etc. It just came across as though you felt PP was nothing more than an abortion factory in the hood. PP provides all kinds of services. Why would someone take money given to an organization located all over the country and concentrate its resources into inner city areas? That would cause a riot in itself. Again, I'm not in love with Planned Parenthood, I just think it's important to assess all the facts.
I am not familiar with the documentary that Maafa21 did. Do you know if they looked at the number of PPs in minority communities and based their findings on the PPs that actually provide abortions? I ask because, for example I live in Chicago and there are only 9 PPs here citywide, 2 of which actually provide abortions and they are both downtown. The one that I do know of in the hood only provides abortion referrals. I'd like to see how that plays into the ways in which Planned Parenthood is made the centripetal focus of this debate since they talk about how 94% are built in impoverished neighborhoods.
Last, real quick:
"Instead of jumping on the bandwagon that black women have too many babies that they can’t support, let’s not forget the historical context of slavery."
It seemed as though you were saying in your article, that abortions performed by black women against black babies are done because we have been brainwashed and adopted the mentality that "we are inadequate and incapable of greatness," thus we abort our babies.
In my first comment, I talked about how I heard women who have went into Planned Parenthoods and been discouraged from getting abortions. When I first heard this, I became confused, because like you I was enlightened about Eugenics so I couldn't understand why, in historical context, would this organization try and stop black women from aborting. Then I thought of Margaret Garner, the slave woman who killed her daughter because she didn't want her to return into slavery. She was arrested but instead of being tried and convicted for murder, they only charged her with destruction of property. If we were looking through the historical context and ramifications of slavery, not just Eugenics or racism, it would make more sense to me, not that black babies are aborted but that black women are forced to have them and not "destruct property."
Enter the Prison Industrial Complex is predicated upon the "slave labor" of minorities and in the context of slavery, black women would be discouraged from having abortions (which is why many black woman fought for equal access to abortion services because they wanted to be able to exercise autonomy over their own bodies). I'm not trying to say that every black woman that had an abortion would have birthed a criminal, some could have birthed a Malcolm X, but even Detroit Red aka Satan ended up in prison in his lifetime.
It is clear that no matter what I rebut, you are going to have your opinions of what YOU feel I should have included in my post, or what you think my viewpoint should be. Quickly I will say I am not a statistician, nor am I an anthropologist. I watched the documentary that you have not seen. I wrote a post about what I gathered from the documentary. Nothing more, nothing less. One of the reasons the black community has so many problems is because everybody wants to be right, everybody has an opinion. Nobody wants to shut up, listen and work together to move towards solutions. I don't feel "battling" with you intellectually is going to solve anything. At the end of the day, the societal ills of our community will still remain. I could write another 800-850 word blog just as a response to your comment. But, what will it prove? What will it have accomplished? Absolutely, nothing. So I'll let you have the last word, sista. We can agree to disagree.
Wow. You mad, huh? It wasn't supposed to be a battle with you. Matter of fact I asked you some questions that I genuinely wanted an answer to, that didn't require you to be an anthropologist or statistician. I'm not one of those either, but I do defer to the wisdom of those that are and use their findings to help me understand things for which I have no innate knowledge. Yes, at the end of the day our community will still have societal ills, that I do agree with you about. However, the one thing I learned thanks to Black academia was that if ever we are to do something correctly, debate and discourse should be at the forefront of our desires to effectively change those ills. So it wasn't about me "trying to be right" but I do value my opinion as well as the constitution that affords me one. You presented your idea on a forum that is dedicated to the expression of opinions, so I'm sorry that you feel the expression of my opinion is a threat to the liberty of yours. As to discontinuing this conversation. I respectfully oblige. Good Day.
You know what, B? I'mo have to claim you with this one. You just LEARNED me a few thangs!!! YESSSSS!!!
LOL… So you wasn't claimin me before!?! *wallslide* #MakidaDEEZ
Obama is not "pro-abortion" no one is "pro-abortion" he's Pro-Choice, there's a difference. I'm Pro-Choice, but I couldn't see myself getting an abortion, at the same time I don't think MY personal beliefs should prevent another woman from CHOOSING to have an abortion if they want.
To say "no-one" is pro-abortion is an argumentative fallacy that depends on "political correctness." Conservative Liberalism, adopted that phrase when it came to abortions in order to not appear too leftist in its ideologies. In any event, I often use "pro-choice" and "pro-abortion" interchangeably because in fact I am pro-choice and I don't get up in arms about the distinction. It's a personal distinction and I wasn't trying to use it negatively nor to get into an ideological debate.
Instead I wanted to know how many people there were out there that support Obama yet believe so strongly about this issue. If people take a stance calling abortion genocide and calling out the people who supported this "genocide," then I just thought people would be interested in knowing that Obama "Black people's favorite president" should be added to the list. This is coming from someone who supported Obama. Yet because I picked my battles with him and because abortion wasn't on my high priority list I voted for him. I just wanted to know how deep some people really are in this battle. *kanye shrug*
I love the post, but ….this too closely remembles a conspiracy theory. but ..again, it is a good one.
Birth control and abortion clinics are available to everyone …
I will say that in DC, the planned parenthood is SMACK DAB in the middle of downtown, literally 3 blocks from the whitehouse.
there are no abortion clinics in the hood in DC.
there are no abortion clinics in the hood of Richmond, VA where I am from either. very good post and I enjoyed reading the varied viewpoints in the comments as well.
No clinics in the hood in Philly either. 1 in center city and 1 in the white northeast of the city. That's about as BS as the rest of this "article." Brittany and A.S.D. got this.
A great documentary that explores this is Maafa21. I recommend that folks get up on that.
Great post!
I just saw the documentary. Very informative and enlightening. The one thing that annoyed me is that throughout the entire documentary majority of the historical references were from men. Men will never understand the burdens placed on women, and after watching the documentary I do not think that they will understand.
While I think this is great topic and a well written piece.. i have to disagree.
planned parenthood is not exterminating babies..
they provide a service and people take advantage as they see fit. Planned parenthood is not advertised in schools, nor do they visit homes or solicit customers. AT least not where I am from. In fact i first heard about planned parenthood in college where they provided me with low cost birth control and annual papsmears.
The truth is if you have a problem with black abortion rates you have to go back to the same issues that lead to low literacy rates, high school drop outs, black on black crime etc you cant blame planned parenthood or any other organization, just like the fact that birth control exists does not mean you condone teenage sex, just like liquor stores are not the reason we have alcoholics. Black women are also the fastest growing sector for HIV/AIDS so
lets stop pointing the finger and coming up with conspiracy theories, lets look at the problem in our communities and try to solve those issues because as long as there are excuses.. planned parenthood genocide, undercover brothas infecting us etc… we will continue to be the cause of our own genocide
this article reminds me of a discussion I had with some friends/cousins a few months back. two things…
1) the pop of blacks in this country is not in jeopardy/decline. i work in the medical field. relatively speaking, there are far more children (black) being born to mothers who are neither mentally (read: mature) nor financially prepared than there are abortions in the black community. does PP provide abortions free of charge? i think not (correct me if i'm wrong). in short, key-lolo in the hood is more likely to have the baby than abort which brings me to my next point…
2) Ok, so PP is more likely to be found "in the hood". Why is that a bad thing? If ignorance begets ignorance, for the most part, then why not try to reduce the # of spawns from this sector of folks. Bare with me a sec…2 cousins. One holds a MS, travels the world on vacation, no kids, no abortions. The other cousin has no higher education, unemployed, has 5 kids, "in the hood", no abortions. Who would you rather be procreating for the sake of the black community? I asked the cousin who is educated, self-motivated "do you ever feel like you owe it to black society to procreate in order to help offset the ever-growing number of "hood" babies"? Her response was yes but she would have to get remarried before that happens.
Disclaimer: I, myself, am a product of the ghetto and harbor no shame about it. However, i was determined not to remain there.
I just do not get why anyone would resort to abortion. I guess it is because I have been trying for three years now with no luck. It seems like the ones who use abortion as a birth control can get pregnant at will. They should not be allowed to have children anyways.
I just want to point out that if the women involved in the 15 million unwanted pregnancies would have successfuly used birth control in the first place (and access to birth control as well as information about how to use it properly is definitely lacking in the black community), the outcome would have been the same. That Malcolm/Martin/Shirley still would not have been born. And if that's what you're really concerned about, then you should also be against birth control, because every black woman who is wasting an opportunity to get pregnant by using birth control is possibly preventing the next black leader from being born.
I would rather the woman get an abortion than have the child and try to drown it in the toilet, leave it in a dumpster or on the side of the road, or keep it and mistreat it. Abortions should not be used as birth control, people should be more responsible with their sexual habits. In a perfect world anyone who wasn't ready to take care of a baby would never get pregnant. In a perfect world people would be in healthy marriages before they decide to procreate. Unfortunately, we don't live in that world. Abortion is a legal medical procedure that should be available to anyone who wants or needs it. I'm not interested in conspiracy theories. Planned Parenthood doesn't FORCE anyone to get an abortion, those women go on their own and make the decision. Thanks to the Supreme Court there are lots of restrictions on when you can get an abortion, and there are rules about what the doctor must tell you before you can get an abortion. Getting an abortion is not a decision that's made lightly by most people.
Instead of spending our time railing against a legal medical procedure, we should be trying to build up our communities and take care of the people who made it OUT of the womb. I'm tired of people being more concerned for a kid before it's born than after it's born. Like you point out in your article, the money going to PP could be going to schools. Well the time you spent writing this article and watching conspiracy theory documentaries could have been spent working for education or prison reform (which are both things that hurts our community far more than abortion does).
And I'm not moved by the "it's all racism" theory either. It's not race, it's economics. This country has always been more about who has the most economically even more than it's been about race. This is by no means a Genocide.
The truth is, black babies aren't endangered.
The term "genocide" and "endangered" indicate that the number of black babies being born is declining, and it's not. In fact, the birthrate among black women is up (check the Vital Statistics database) and the population of Blacks is projected to increase.
My questions is why is this campaign targeting black women & our bodies to make a political point?
Where are these people with their "outrage" when our teens aren't graduating from high school, when babies are growing up in poverty, and our men are being incarcerated at disproportionate rates?
Why didn't this campaign say white babies are endangered, considering white women account for more than HALF (almost 60%) of all abortions. Maybe that's not shocking enough.
First off thank you for raising questions about this entire "debate" and thanks for looking at this ad for what it really is, a ploy to make a political point so that African Americans, especially women, will align themselves with conservatives who wish to use the abortion issue as a way for us vote their agenda.
One thing that I have noticed throughout this entire article and the comments was the lack of evidence, empirical evidence so that not only I could but everyone reading this could look for themselves and make the determination on whether there is a "black genocide" apart from the very real effort to incarcerate, miseducate and deny an education, limit our options, and define what we should do with our lives. I understand that abortion is an issue that people have strong feelings for, my personal feeling is that it gets to the emotional side of us and thus move our attention away from serious matters such war, the economy, education, health care; apart of course from the abortion issue, the environment, etc. I believe this is one of those times where our focus is away from issues like what is going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, the status of the health care bill, etc.
Considering that the author of this article is getting her Masters in Journalism I would expect to see in detail the references she was making. I would like to see links to studies on this issue, not just some video on YouTube. As one person said already that this feels like a conspiracy theory, and like all conspiracy theories this one lacks empirical evidence and has a sense of pushing my thoughts in one direction instead of letting me make my own conclusions on this topic.
"Abortion is a Woman’s Issue. Period. Until this is realized, rabid conservatives and anti-abortion fanatics will continue to polarize the issue and make it “The Black Woman’s Holocaust” in an attempt to draw cheers and support from ignorant whites, blacks and angst filled pro-lifers with their single-minded agenda.
What pisses me off are the tactics employed. The anti-abortion/pro-life/white Conservative majority’s manipulation with regard to the black community and the vilification of planned parenthood’s 21st century focus on birth control, contraception and sex education. Some unfair criticisms used to depict black women as the biggest profiteers of public aid and welfare assistance are now being used in the abortion debate. But, which is it? Black women and their gang of children are either on welfare, sucking up tax dollars while breaking the government piggy bank or we are having so many abortions and killing so many of our unborn that the government needs to exact complete control over our reproductive rights and our bodies for our own sake.
What we have here is a mostly white (not for long, I fear) anti-abortion movement that is attempting to infiltrate the black community and incite black conservatives and Christians to do everything in their power to exaggerate and disparage black women from having abortions under the pretense that they really care about their quality of life and the life of that unborn child. But what’s most obvious is the fact that they only care when it comes to the unborn, but do they care after the baby is born?
They don't want sex education taught in schools. Teach abstinence instead. But seriously, these same people behind the anti-abortion campaigns could instead be educating all girls and young women about sex, how to treat their bodies as temples, contraceptives, and utilizing the right to say no to sex, but instead they put these billboards up to embarass and demonize black women.
Black babies are not endangered. Black MEN are.
I hope this Conservative strategy to get blacks to come out strongly against abortion by promoting it as a racist, genocide, and a way for white feminists and liberals to exterminate the black race FAILS, and miserably so. This entire strategy reeks of fear, institutionalized racism and cultural divisiveness and I’m afraid that it will work in some respects.
I’ve even known black women who seriously claim to be pro-life sneak off to the clinic to take care of an unexpected situation. It happens, but across cultures and not resigned to any single race.
Anti-Abortion measures are as much a form of BIRTH CONTROL as women who use abortion as a method of BIRTH CONTROL. They're both abusive practices. There has to be a way to curtail abuse of abortion that does not penalize all women and restrict them from having a choice, as long as it falls within the law. I am a proponent of abortion reform, but I am a firm believer and supporter of a woman’s right to choose. I am not willing to give up that right just because I would never personally have an abortion.
Truth stated.
The Black Men that are the endangered species will lessen with more Black Males being put in a situation where they will more often than not not get the key coaching and mentorship to become MEN in the community. Not because of their matured state of not being female, but Men in the sense of those Males being taught, provided, and groomed with tools and situations that will allow them to be the Men that our communities need.
A bunch of boys being raised by females aren't going to fit the bill. Will there be an occasional exception? Yes, but thats anything in numerics, and not something for proponents of anti-abortion to hinge their argument on. Will there ever be a four leafed clover? Yep, but thats not what you argue from. Thats one of the main problems I see when we have discourse on topics like this, someone always throwing in an extreme exception: "I know of an instance where…." So? How many situations do you know of the exact opposite? I hate it when someone wants to speak of the .000000001% exception as if that is the rule. Logic dictates reasoning starting with the general not the exception.
LOVE this comment.
This is a great article!! Truly sad but so enlightening! I personally had a miscarriage recently and went to the doctor for a check up afterwards. The doctor asked if I would be trying to get pregnant again soon and I said "yes I will be trying again soon right after the time period that im supposed to wait". So then she asked "well would you like some birth control pills?" to which i replied "no because i will not be needing them" She asked "are you sure?" I replied "yes im sure, i dont need it" So do you know what this lady does? She leaves the room and comes back with not 1 but 2 boxes of birth control!! I was blown away, i promptly threw both boxes away upon leaving the office. Now just a little info on me, I am a happily married 25 year old financially stable black female. Why did she feel the need to try to push birth control down my throat when i told her I was trying to have a baby??
My god you people are racist. KKK, Nazi party- most of you are on par with them in terms of racial obsession. Here's a tip: YOU AREN'T THE FUCKING BLACK RACE. It isn't any of your damn business if a woman wants to have an abortion or not, regardless of her race. Your hive mentality, your obsession with race- these things are the cancers killing America.
Critical thinking skills have been lost by the majority of americans. Especially when it comes to hot topics that people have an emotional investment in. One question: What would happen if there was no PP and no abortions? Most of the inflamed don't even think that fart into the equation. Life wouldn't get better for the community it would get exponentially worse. Married families aren't the ones having these abortions! This issue revolves mostly around those that aren't prepared to have children anyway. Them not having those 'oops babies' isn't hurting the community. We are having enough problems raising the ones that are here properly without adding a whole bunch of others to the problem. I hate it when I hear emotionally charged words like Genocide used and people grab at it blindly. We automatically attach a negative stigma to whatever comes after the buzzword. Stop falling for the headfake. If these females started having these babies life in the black community would get exponentially worse on all fronts. Why? Because resources would have to be allocated to those children that would better be used helping the ones that are already here and helping those that will be the great minds and leaders of the future get to their proper positions instead of being lost in the mix like so many are being done now.
And people ask "Where are the Black Leaders?" Its debateable on why there aren't many. However, I know that many with the potential weren't ever put in a position where they could flourish, because the problem children or the sheer number of the children drained the resources that would've allowed that special child to become what our communities so desperately need.
Are you serious with this right now? Did you research this at all?
Every time someone points out how nuts this is, you go back to the idea that you trying to "inform and educate." While you're doing that, did you think to look up who's responsible for this conspiracy theory you summarized?
Here's a lil education: maafa21.com are the people in charge of the "documentary" you talking about, right? Their website says this:
"They were stolen from their homes, locked in chains and taken across an ocean. And for more than 200 years, their blood and sweat would help to build the richest and most powerful nation the world has ever known.
But when slavery ended, their welcome was over. America's wealthy elite had decided it was time for them to disappear and they were not particular about how it might be done. What you are about to see is that the plan these people set in motion 150 years ago is still being carried out today. So don't think that this is history. It is not. It is happening right here, and it's happening right now."
Here's the guy responsible for this content:
His name is Mark Crutcher if you want to look it up. Go to the Maafa21 website, click on "About Us" and it tells you in big letters that the group is "Life Dynamics, Inc." Now look that up. The group is run by that white guy, Mark Crutcher. He runs other political anti-abortion shock groups too. 5 minute Google search will tell ya that sis.
I'm a caseworker giving childcare funding to welfare mothers in one of the biggest cities in the country. You want to know what life is like for them? Do you have any kids? You're calling contraception and abortion "population control" so why haven't you had any kids yet? Probably because you're a strong woman who is focusing on her education and sucess in life so she can be ready to rasie the next Shirley Chisolm when she has her. Isn't it nice to be able to make that choice? Planned Parenthood helps a lot of people with that, and abortion is only a small part of it.
Educate yourself before you try to educate other people with some white man's political BS.
I need to correct two critical inaccuracies in the above article. First, the article states that “the highest percentage of people on welfare is WHITE WOMEN”. This is incorrect. The race with the greatest number of people on welfare in the US is indeed the White race. However, percentage wise, Blacks disproportionately receive much more welfare benefits. Whites (excluding Hispanics) make up about 60% of the US population. Blacks make up about 13% of the population. Yet Blacks are more than twice as likely as Whites to receive welfare benefits.
Second, the article states that “according to the CDC the number one killer of black people is NOT HIV, heart disease or cancer. It’s abortion.” This is very misleading for two reasons. Accurate records are not kept as to the race of those who voluntarily terminate a pregnancy. Black abortions are clearly over-represented in CDC numbers because many private, for-profit clinics do not release statistics. Blacks are three times as likely to use a not-for-profit free clinic when ending a pregnancy. (cont. below)
The second reason this statement is misleading is that it does not account for those fetuses that would have died before the age of 18 from other causes anyway. Such causes include: premature birth, child abuse, black on black violence, HIV, or other childhood diseases. (cont. below)
I am a White social worker who has worked with mostly Black families in New Orleans for many years. What I am going to say will not be popular. I will be called a racist. But if Black folks really search their heart, some will admit it is the truth.
We must stop those Blacks who cannot or will not rear their children in a stable, loving environment from having babies. Mind you I said those who can’t provide a stable, loving home – not all Blacks. Chris Rose, the noted New Orleans author, had the guts to say it. The real problem of Black poverty and Black on Black crime, as he stated in a recent editorial, is “Babies who have Babies who shoot Babies”. (cont. below)
Being a young black woman myself, I agree 100% with what you’re saying. You can’t force someone to rear a child successfully, and when people choose not to care for their children, you end up with kids looking for attention and love from bad sources, creating the gangs and violence that is so scary and prevalent in poorer black communities.
Some will note that the rate of Black mothers who have children out of wedlock has dropped. Indeed, it is now only slightly higher than the rate of White mothers who have children out of wedlock. But there is one critical difference. The average unwed White mother bears one child out of wedlock. The average unwed Black mother bears several children out of wedlock – usually all by different mates.
Again, many will call this hate-mongering racism. Well, as a social worker who has worked for years with my city’s poor Black population, I have but one response. Tell that to the babies born into these environments. The kids who get slapped around; the kids who are emotionally and sexually abused; the kids who are poorly fed; and the kids who start life with little chance of rising above poverty and despair.
Look these kids in the eye, and tell them with a straight face it’s all about racism.
Thanks for all your information and insight into this very controversial topic. I am starting to do a project for my Religious Studies class on the Social Justice issue of Genocide. Would it be possible for you to refer me to the documentary you watched on YouTube so I am have a look at is as well.
Eugenics should be baned, and certonly not funded by our goverment, and anybody who is pro eugenics should be put on a watch dog list and not alowed any sort of power for makeing changes to our goverment.By whos standard are they calling any one genetic quality better than another, it is compleatly subject to bias and your idea might not match my idea but you shouldnt force it on anybody. Same crap Nazis did back in the day, you think people would have learned by now. One day abortion and the clinics, and all the people who supported abortion in any way will be brought up on charges against humanity, and will have to pay the penality for their ignorant, malicious, evil, and all the harm they have done. they may have pulled the wool over sociatys eyes for now, but one day were going to wake up and say what the hell are you doing to me. OMG I cant beleave how stupid people can be, its got to be fear driven, and these idiots killing our future generation are getting rich off of it, liveing it up, off of killing us. .
I think we need to put racism aside when we consider the issue at hand. Yes 94% of Planned Parenthoods may be in poorer, urban areas, but those same urban areas don’t necessarily offer the same quality of sexual health education as is offered in suburban schools of wealthier areas, therefore we have more people choosing to engage in unsafe sex due to lack of knowledge. Although I see an injustice that kids in poor areas aren’t receiving the strong education that kids in better school districts are, we need to point fingers at the government for not better funding the schools and their programs, because that is the true problem to be adressed. For our current situation Planned Parenthood should be seen as a blessing for providing services to these young people, because if someone chooses to seek abortion they already feel they can’t provide a suitable home for a child, and they shouldn’t be forced to parent if they don’t want to. Eliminating abortions means that children will be born unwanted, creating a vicious cycle with the coming generations of our youth.