Black Pro-Life Group Upset Abortion Business Joins Civil Rights Coalition

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 22, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Black Pro-Life Group Upset Abortion Business Joins Civil Rights Coalition Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 22
, 2007

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — An African-American organization is upset that the nation’s top abortion business has been included in a civil rights coalition. Members of Project 21 say they are outraged that Planned Parenthood recently became a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR).

Project 21 chairman Mychal Massie says Planned Parenthood advocates abortions — particularly in the black community.

"How can a civil rights group that claims to support underprivileged blacks embrace an organization created expressly to hasten the demise of black people?" Massie asked in a statement LifeNews.com received.

"People of conscience should be appalled and outraged by this alignment," he added.

The LCCR is a political coalition of almost 200 groups representing liberal racial, gender, age, disability and religious special interests as well as labor unions. The group is known for its opposition to judicial nominees who adhere to an orginalist interpretation of the Constitution.

In announcing the new affiliation, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington president and CEO Jatrice Martel Gaiter said her group and the LCCR now "share a dedication to promoting human rights" as well as alleged "committed to justice and equality.

LCCR president Wade Henderson added that Planned Parenthood was "one of the nation’s leading health care advocates" and that "health care reform is the next frontier for the civil rights movement."

However, Massie said that promoting abortion doesn’t square with the pro-life values most black Americans hold dear.

In a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released in August of 2006, 70 percent of black Protestants said that abortion should be prohibited or eliminated.

"The civil rights movement in America has been stifled for many years by poor leadership and an inability to focus on the real issues that hinder progress," Project 21 member Djana Milton said about Planned Parenthood’s membership.

"By getting into bed with a nearly billion-dollar organization so vocal in professing its desire to increase risky behaviors without an eye to consequences, the LCCR has taken a giant step backwards in promoting true civil rights in America," Milton added.

ACTION: Express your disappointment to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights at 1629 K Street NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 or call 202-466-3311. You can send an email message by going to https://www.civilrights.org/about/contact_us

Related web sites:
Project 21 – https://www.project21.org
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights – https://www.civilrights.org