Criticism Continues Over NAACP’s Decision to Endorse Abortion

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Apr 7, 2004   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Criticism Continues Over NAACP’s Decision to Endorse Abortion

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 7, 2004

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The NAACP’s low-key decision in February to officially endorse a position in favor of abortion continues to draw criticism from African American and pro-life groups.

On Tuesday, Rev. Clenard Childress the director of LEARN, a black pro-life organization, said his group was "deeply disgruntled" by the decision. He said the NAACP is responsible for "the obvious sell out of our women and children to appease the abortion industry and NARAL in their quest to unseat President Bush."

"Afro-American women have been victimized by the abortion industry for profit," Childress said. "Each day 1,452 Black infants are killed for profit and our pulpits and much of our current leadership are silent. Political alliances have caused us to ‘sell out’ our women and our children."

African American women make up 13.7 percent of the U.S. population of women of childbearing age, yet the abortion rate among Black women is three times higher than of white women. For every five African American women that get pregnant three will have abortions.

For the first time in the 95-year history of the nation’s largest civil rights organization, the NAACP took an official position in favor of abortion in February.

NAACP Board Chair Julian Bond said, "This is an issue of equal rights, and we are pleased to join those insisting on a woman’s right to control her own body."

In their statement endorsing abortion, the NAACP says "public opinion surveys indicate that women of color seek abortions at rates higher than their percentage in the population."

But Janine Simpson, director of Urban Center Development for Care Net, a network of 750 pregnancy resource centers, says that’s because abortion businesses target black women and "an estimated 70 percent of abortion providers are in minority neighborhoods."

Day Gardner, director of Black Americans for Life, agrees, saying abortion exploits black women and unfairly targets the African-American community.

"Abortion is the number-one killer of African Americans, killing more Black people than all other causes combined," Gardner explains.

Childress echoed their concerns calling abortion a "deception that has plagued the Black Church."

"It has decimated and demoralized African Americans like no other source," Childress added.

In addition to Bond, the NAACP is led by president Kwesi Mfume, a former Maryland congressman. During his tenure in office, Mfume built a consistent pro-abortion voting record.

ACTION: Make your views known. Contact the NAACP about their decision to endorse abortion at NAACP, 4805 Mt. Hope Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215 or call (877) NAACP-98. Email [email protected].