Kerby Anderson

Access to abortion has become a campaign issue in part because of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. A recent article argued that black women will no longer have easy access to abortion in some states, with the implication that this will be bad for the African American community in this country.

Alveda King wonders how “abortion access can benefit black females when it so starkly impacts black babies”? Of the roughly 930,000 abortions performed in this country each year, about 38 percent are performed on black women. That works out to be about 353,000 black babies aborted each year, 968 every day, or 40 every hour.

Even if you don’t know much about the eugenic movement in America and don’t know much about Margaret Sanger and the history of Planned Parenthood, you would still conclude that abortion is a negative. A disproportionate number of abortion clinics are located in or near minority neighborhoods.

Abortion is reducing the percentage of African Americans in this country. That is why Alveda King refers to it as a black apocalypse. “Although they make up just 13 percent of the female population, black women account for over one-third of all abortions performed in this country each year.”

In her op-ed, she speculates what her uncle, Martin Luther King, Jr., might say about abortion. She cites his warning, “The Negro cannot win if he is willing to sacrifice the futures of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Alveda King says she was saved from abortion and believes God has commissioned her to raise her voice in the defense of life. We need her voice to speak up for the unborn.