I agree with Planned Parenthood's statement. I would have phrased it differently (can we include what kids deserve?), but I embrace the general sentiment. Of course black lives matter; of course we want a world where parents don't have to worry about children experiencing violence or being killed.
This is why I am also angry at the hypocrisy of this claim and heart-broken at the reality it supports. Do they really want to have a discussion about the intersection of violence and reproduction? Planned Parenthood is one of the leading providers of abortion in the United States, an act which by its very nature takes the life of a unborn human child. Thousands of unborn children suffer violence every day when someone receives an abortion in a Planned Parenthood clinic. If freedom from violence is reproductive justice, then there is no reproductive justice at any Planned Parenthood clinic by their own standard.
I know Planned Parenthood is attempting to support the cause of the Black Lives Matter movement, and as I noted earlier I agree with their sentiment. But their statement fails dismally because it only reveals their hypocrisy. Planned Parenthood's track record shows that, in spite of their rhetoric, not all black lives matter to them.
- The Washington Examiner reports: "[The] black abortion rate that for years has vastly surpassed that of every other racial group. Thirty out of every 1,000 black women obtained an abortion in 2011, which is the most recent data available. That rate is nearly triple that of white women and double that of Hispanic women. While about 13 percent of Americans are black, more than one-third of all abortions are administered to black women..." Protectingblacklife.org notes that 79% of surgical abortion facilities are located within walking distance of black or Hispanic women. Considering the population percentages, that's a wild overrepresentation.
- According to the Center For Disease Control and Prevention, "Black non-Hispanic women have the highest abortion ratio. Black women’s abortion ratio has reached 444 abortions per 1,000 live births, while non-Hispanic white women’s abortion ratio is 124 abortions per 1,000 live births. 37% of women having abortions are white, 37% are black, 19% are Hispanic, and 7% other races." Keep in mind that 12% of the population are black, while 63% are white. No wonder many critics claim Planned Parenthood targets minorities; at least one organization from within the black community refers to this as genocide.
- Abortion since Roe v. Wade has robbed 25% of the black population of life. According to toomanyaborted.com, "Abortion kills more black lives (363,705) than all other causes of death combined (285,522). In NYC, home of Planned Parenthood, more black babies are aborted than born alive."
- According to the CDC, the police killed 123 black men in 2012. We all agree this is tragic and we should be doing whatever we can to ensure this does not continue happening. Planned Parenthood performed 118,00 abortions of black babies in that same year. If the loss of 123 is tragic - and it is - what words should we use to describe the loss of 118,000?
Planned Parenthood, if you really believe that reproductive justice should be free from violence, shut your doors. If you really want to help bring about a world free of the fear of violence and death, shut your doors. And if you truly believe that black lives matter, you could save 118,00 lives every year if you would just shut your doors.
Or you can keep doing business as usual. Just please stop posting messages trying to support a right to life when you are so very proficient at ending it.