Abortion Activist Says Killing Black Babies in Abortions Isn’t “Black on Black Crime”

Opinion   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jul 17, 2018   |   4:45PM   |   Washington, DC

Angered by a recent column lamenting the high abortion rate in the Black community, one abortion activist insisted that killing unborn babies is not “Black on Black crime.”

Yamani Hernandez, who described herself as a Black mother and reproductive rights activist, claimed abortion is “an act of compassion, love, and self-determination” in a column for the pro-abortion blog Rewire.

After having an abortion in college, Hernandez said she became an abortion advocate out of a “deep love of children” and “hope for what is possible in the world” when every child is a wanted child.

“I’m clear that my choice to have an abortion was not murder, nor a crime; when there was a crime, I took action against it,” she wrote. “I had a miscarriage seven months ago, and while it was a devastating loss I am still grappling with, I’m clear that the pregnancy I lost was not yet a person.”

Her grief indicates that, deep down, she knows that her unborn children did have value. Yet, she openly defied the idea in her column.

What prompted her to write was a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed by Jason Riley, who discussed the disproportionately high number of abortions in the Black community. In New York City, more unborn babies are aborted in the Black community than are born.

Rather than see this as a tragedy, Hernandez accused Riley of “villainizing Black women” because he described abortion as “violent behavior” against an unborn child by his/her own parents.

She wrote: “The juxtaposition of abortion and so-called Black-on-Black crime is an anti-choice talking point built on a myth that white supremacists perpetuate for their own purposes. ‘Black-on-Black crime’ is not a thing, and certainly not relevant to any conversation about abortion.”

Later, she painted with the same broad brush that she accused Riley of doing:

Black people who have abortions aren’t being forced to do so, and trying to coerce Black women into continuing their pregnancies or expanding families is advancing white supremacist notions about what Black women are here for. Why is it so offensive to imagine that every Black woman in America may not have the desire or means to have or expand their family? We have been coerced enough. Black liberation is not measured in numbers of Black births; it is measured by thriving, autonomous Black lives.

If Riley was truly concerned with the quality of life for the “Black population,” he would have noted in his piece issues like sexual violence and the fact that intimate partner violence is a leading cause of death of Black women.

Hernandez accused Riley of ignoring experiences like hers, but her writing indicates she is ignoring much more.

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First, she ignores the experiences of many women who have had abortions but deeply regret them. Then there are many others who have been forced or coerced to abort their unborn babies by partners or parents – a horrific tragedy closely connected to the sexual violence and intimate partner violence that Hernandez mentioned.

Malorie Bantala’s story is just one tragic example. Her ex-boyfriend was convicted of brutally assaulting her and killing her unborn son after she refused to have an abortion. There are many others.

Second, Hernandez ignores the brutal fact that an abortion kills a unique, living human being. Opinions and feelings aside, scientifically a human life comes into being at the moment of conception. Even some abortion activists admit this to be true. Most abortions occur after the unborn baby’s heart starts beating, around six weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion procedures themselves often are brutal, as well. One of the most common second-trimester abortion techniques involves dismembering an unborn baby by pulling them apart limb from limb while their hearts are beating. Abortion activists prefer to ignore these violent facts and emphasize feelings and emotional arguments instead.

No matter what the color of an unborn baby’s skin is, he or she is a unique, living human creature who deserves the chance to live, grow and succeed in life. Their lives should not be defined or destroyed based on their parents’ circumstances.