The Most Dangerous Place for an African American is…

February 24th, 2011 - By Demetria Irwin

According to this NYC billboard (paid for by a Texas-based pro-life group), the most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb. The billboard is located in walking distance to a Planned Parenthood location, an organization that is currently facing the very real prospect of defunding by the federal government. In addition to a number of other reproductive health services, Planned Parenthood does provide abortions, which is a sticking point for conservative and pro-lifers in Congress.

The placement of the billboard in NYC, is significant because according to a report released by the New York City Health Department in 2011, about 40 percent of pregnancies in NYC in 2009 ended in abortion.  The report states that “for  women under the age of 25,  more pregnancies ended in induced termination (abortion) than live births or spontaneous termination (miscarriage).” Almost half of those abortions were from black women. Those are some truly shocking and sobering statistics.

Assuming those numbers are accurate, that’s a lot of irresponsible sex. Yes, non-consensual sex can certainly end in pregnancy and sometimes contraceptives do fail, but common sense tells you that most of those abortions were probably a result of unprotected sex.

We. Must. Do. Better.

Yet and still, is it appropriate for this pro-life group to put up a huge billboard in NYC with such a biting message? How do we address this issue? Even if you are pro-choice, do you think these statistics from the health department warrant concern? Where do we start?

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  • Sassy

    I wonder what would happen if they stated the the same except to say the most dangerous place for a jew is Israel. I bet that would have been down in less than 48 hours. That sign is used because that group knows we as a people couldn't get together to make them take it down. The crab mentality of my people. But here is my take is this it is a true statement because we die at a higher rate from disease, violence, bad or no healthcare, and so much more. So I can say how sad to use a race to make yourself feel better……

  • Ruby

    I'm glad the billboard was displayed. If it allows someone to rethink their options then its positive. I dislike singling out black women when women of all race terminate pregnancies for varied reasons. Black women are the poster child for disfunction in society. That is how we are perceived – it is not true.

  • NMG

    Statistics are often skewed. I truly believe you have to ask certain questions in order to get the right answers when dealing with stats because they often tell only one side of the story, but I'm not really worried about the statistics in this case. Maybe black women are having too many abortions in NYC, but that doesn't mean black women all over the country are similar. Would you rather have black women birth babies they don't want, can't afford to raise, who may not have fathers, or are born out of wedlock? Why are we even reacting in this manner to some insane billboard? We are too reactive and not proactive enough.

  • Berlingal

    This same organization did a campaign in Atlanta about 2 years ago. The fact is the debate on race and abortion will forever be lopsided as long as we continue to have lopsided social issues. Maybe black women do have a higher rate of abo…rtion, I have never seen the numbers. But the fact is, we also have lower marriage and income rates. Black men have higher unemployment and incarceration rates. These would all be factors in the family planning process. Thus any group that is REALLY concerned about black families would use their money, power and advertising to correct these social ills and then see a better end result. Just my two cents.

  • Sharock1

    I remember when black women were being criticized for having too many babies and living on public assistance. The DOE, chancellor Cathy Black, even cracked that overcrowding in urban public schools could be relieved, if people practiced birth control. Now, we're aborting too many babies. Which is it? Since the white population is declining in the United States, does that mean that white women are having more abortions, or not having children at all? Is the birthrate of black women lower compared, to white women? It would seem that that would be the case, if so many of us are aborting babies. I’m not condoning abortion as a means of birth control for any race, but many white women have the means to skip off to private doctors who might not contribute statistics, whereas many black woman frequent large city hospitals that do. Statistics, like anything else can be manipulated
    Michelle Obama is the first black FIRST LADY in American history. She’s chocolate, accomplished and fine. That fact is twisting a lot of white guts. Since they can’t attack her, they now attack us.

  • internalbeauty

    thank you! condoms and birth control.i would advocate abstinence because i practice it myself but very few people want it so…

  • P

    I totally agree w/Janice. It is what it is and we African Americans need to stop clouding our judgement and the reality of things by always crying foul and racism. That is why our community looks lack luster b/c we are afraid to tackle the issues. Mirror mirror on the wall……

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ithica-Bailey/1622298307 Ithica Bailey

    Sandy, you took the words out of my mouth. We can't be on both sides…terminating a pregnancy or entering parenthood with multiple kids…unless the stats are wrong to begin with. I think the message is shocking but hopefully it will get mouths to moving & people talking. In the very least maybe it will make someone think about prevention which includes education & abstinence.

  • SandyBrown13

    For me, this isn't even a "pro-choice vs pro-life" situation. It's an attack on black women as a whole, regardless of where you're coming from. I feel that this message is basically saying that black women can't be trusted. Plus, the message is confusing. If black women are having all of these abortions, then how are we also still having "all these kids" with several different men? It can't be both messages. I am a member of Planned Parenthood's Activist Council in NYC, and I was made aware that about 82% of the services at the NYC-based Planned Parenthood locations are not abortion-related. The stats don't concern me because there are a number of reasons why a woman chooses to abort. Who am I to say that a woman getting an abortion was due to "irresponsible sex"? Contrary to popular belief, there are "responsible" women (married, older, etc, depending on your definition) who are getting abortions as well as the women under the age of 25.

    • http://twitter.com/ DT

      Very insightful. Kudos to you SandyB.

    • Alexis

      Not to mention the recession, did anyone stop to think that the abortion rate in 2009 may be high because peopleare actually being responsible knowing they may not be able to afford to have a child. Not to mention the stats say almost half, not half meaning I agree with Sndy saying its an attack on black women. I want a billboard next to Social Services building that states the majority of people in America on welfare are white women! Lets see what kind of response we'll get from that

  • http://www.facebook.com/jarice.sherman Jarice Sherman

    I think African Americans need wake up calls! We don't take things seriously unless they are harsh and grab our attention! Plus, it's the truth according to the stats!

    • InnocentTruth

      You know damn well black people do not want to hear the truth! And even if blacks sat down and discussed issues facing our community the discussion would turn into a blame game. It would either be the BLACK MAN'S FAULT or people would unite and say THE WHITE MAN IS TO BLAME. We refuse to be held ACCOUNTABLE. Until blacks step up and accept responsibility for our mistakes WE WILL NEVER PROGRESS AS A PEOPLE.