Abortion Disproportionately Impacts The Black Community

Thirty-three percent of all abortions fall on black women, despite representing only 13% of the population. The abortion rate for black women is almost five times that for white women.

Author

Editorial Team
January 18, 2022

Thirty-eight percent of all abortions are performed on black women, despite representing only 13% of the population. The abortion rate for black women is almost five times that for white women.

  • Whites make up 33% of abortions despite representing 54% of the population.

  • Blacks make up 38% of abortions despite representing 13% of the population.

  • Hispanics make up 21% of abortions while representing 17% of the population.

In New York City, more black children are aborted than born alive. Between 2012 and 2016, 136,426 black children were aborted and 118,127 were born. Since 1973, 20 million black babies have been aborted.

It hasn’t always been this way: When Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, black Americans were less likely than white Americans to support abortion.

  • Activists like Jesse Jackson called abortion “murder” and even said, “we used to look for death from the man in the blue coat and now it comes in a white coat.”

  • “When we said we will no longer sit on the back of the bus, a place was being reserved for us down at the abortion clinic” - Alveda King, MLK’s daughter

Planned Parenthood’s role: The organization, founded in 1916, is the largest abortion provider in the United States, committing 41% of the abortions in the country. Promoting the reduction of the black community, through various means, has been a staple of the organization’s identity since the beginning, with its founder even speaking to the women’s branch of the Ku Klux Klan.

Earlier this year, the organization denounced the founder, Margaret Sanger, a eugenicist, for her racism and ties to white supremacy.

  • Now: “Black History Month is a time to both honor the history and celebrate the future of Black communities. Black people deserve access to unbiased and non-judgmental sexual and reproductive health care so they can thrive and live healthy and empowered lives.” Planned Parenthood in 2020

  • Then: In 1939, the organization founded the Negro Project. The goal was to target black communities and recruit black leaders to spread the value of contraception and sterilization.

More Context: Data from an Arizona Planned Parenthood branch shows that around 17% of the organization’s patients receive abortions. Those abortions accounted for over 21% of the branch’s revenue.