Pro-Life Movement Sees Increase in Black Community Involvement

Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial in Washington, D.C. (photo: Jackie Ramirez/Pixabay/CC0)

The fact that black women are disproportionately victims of abortion has been a focus of pro-life prayers for years, as advocates work tirelessly to build awareness about the targeting of their community.

Now more black Americans are highlighting the hypocrisy of an abortion industry that claims to be “for women” while intentionally targeting black women for their profit-driven business.

Last week a large group gathered at the Charlotte, North Carolina, government center to protest the opening of an enormous new Planned Parenthood center. More than 100 African American women were there to say the abortion giant is not welcome in their city.

“When I heard about how Planned Parenthood is trying to take up shop here in this city, I had to come and help you expose Planned Parenthood for who and what they really are,” Pamela Wooden, director of women’s ministry at the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Charlotte, said during the protest. “Planned Parenthood is a genocidal organization that targets black women and profits from lying and killing innocent children.”

Wooden highlighted the fact of Planned Parenthood’s origin in the eugenics movement. “Do not be fooled by their rebranding and repackaging, because their purpose to wipe out black children has not changed,” she urged.

Marilyn Gool said at the rally that the African American community across the nation is facing a “silent genocide” at the hands of the abortion industry. “It is the American Holocaust,” she said. “Just as the Jewish Holocaust began be devaluing the Jews and making them less than human, the same thing has happened in the abortion industry. Black people have to rise up. This has to be the beginning of a black movement to stand up and say it’s enough.”

The solution to the problem of unplanned pregnancy in the African American community, Gool emphasized, is not to “murder our babies. When we start to devalue life in the womb, then we start to devalue life afterward,” she explained. “We can’t teach black men to stop killing black men if we teach them it is okay to kill them before they're born.”

Gool spoke of the lies of the abortion industry and a society that refers to unborn babies as just a “fetus” or a “piece of flesh.”

“If it is a nuisance that you can kill before it is born, then you don’t have a problem killing it afterward if it becomes a nuisance,” Gool said. “There is a solution to our problem. There is a solution to our moral problem. But it is never to murder our children. I encourage you to continue to stand for life and stand for black lives because black lives do matter.”

Carol Threatt, pastor of Charlotte’s Christian Faith Center, also spoke. “I refuse to allow Planned Parenthood to come in under the guise of some lies by saying they support us when they are really truly against us,” Threatt said. She called for the black community to rise up against the injustice while offering hope to those who have experienced abortion. “We don’t bash them. We uplift them and tell them there is hope,” she said. “Once we have done that, tell them about the lie. ... Let them know that [abortion] is a lie and God has a plan for our lives and our children’s lives.” She emphasized the heroic choice of birth mothers who reject abortion and choose adoption.

“There are some of us standing here today that had an abortion. You didn’t know what to do. You felt hopeless. But there is hope today.”

Christina Bennett was moments away from being killed by abortion when a stranger stepped in a saved her life. Bennett shared the story of how her mother sat crying and waiting for an abortion when a janitor approached her and asked if she wanted to have her baby. She replied, “Yes!” The janitor told her, “Then God will give you the strength. Put your clothes on and leave.” Moments later, her mother walked into the operating room, saw a puddle of blood on the floor, and despite protests from the abortionist, she left. 

As an adult she learned about her mother’s abortion appointment and dedicated herself to preventing the loss of other lives by abortion. She’s now the communications director for the Family Institute of Connecticut and works tirelessly to save lives and help women who feel the only choice they have is abortion. She recently met with President Trump in the Oval Office along with other pro-lifers. “I had an appointment to die, but God canceled it,” she wrote. “I received the priceless gift of life instead – a gift I am forever grateful for. […] At times I’ve wondered why I made it out and [other babies] didn’t. There are no answers to satisfy such a question. […] I owe it to them to speak on their behalf. That is my passion and my privilege.”

Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King and herself a post-abortion survivor, speaks tirelessly about the civil rights issue of abortion and the importance of awakening the black community. King, who works with Priests for Life, focuses on educating young African Americans that abortion is a lie “that certain human beings are less than fully human,” reminiscent of the days when owning a black person as a slave was legal.

Eugene Vigil, of Priests for Life’s outreach to African Americans, Civil Rights for the Unborn, believes the newest abortion laws extending abortion through birth has brought more black Americans to the movement. That can mean praying at abortion centers, helping out at local pregnancy centers, getting involved with pro-life organizations, writing letters, attending meetings or hearings with representatives, and working to prevent the opening of new abortion centers.

Day Gardner of the National Pro-Life Union points out the racist aspect: “It seems we are very quick as a people to recognize racism everywhere else except the one place that truly affects all of us. Most blacks will agree that racism is still very much alive — yet say nothing when abortion facilities are placed purposefully in minority and poor communities. More than 37 percent of all abortions are performed on black women. Abortion is a billion dollar business and they need us to make their blood money. If we as black people say no to abortion — the industry will cease to exist. We must pick up the bloodstained banner of righteousness from that hotel balcony where Dr. King was slain. We are the underground railroad of our time — and it’s up to us to make abortion a terrible thing of our historical past. If we stand united against this horrific practice, we shall overcome this, too!"

Lori Hoye is another African American activist who speaks to the “empowerment” line of the abortion industry. “Rape and incest account for less than 1% of abortions. I was a child conceived in rape. Nine months after my birth, my mother graduated with a 4.0 GPA and was class valedictorian. She worked her way from poverty to great success in the business world, proving that black women are strong enough to succeed even as single parents. So murdering our children is not the path to success.”

Ayesha Krutz highlights the hypocrisy of Hollywood pushing abortion: “It’s as though we cannot love them both; mother and child. Is this Hollywood angst the same argument of Thanos, the bad guy from the last two Avengers Movies — that half the world needs to be destroyed? I guess Hollywood is telling us they are the bad guys and they know it, but it is worth it. Is that the movies imitating life or vice versa?”

DJ Carter was almost a victim of abortion himself. His parents were teenagers when her mother got pregnant. Their families decided on abortion as the solution, but at 20 weeks the abortionist said it was too late. Carter is now the director of Pregnancy Centers of Central Virginia. “My father told me that the first set of clothing that I had was paid for with the money that was supposed to be for my abortion,” Carter said. “And that was a major thing that kind of shaped my life and allowed me to think about how maybe our existence is not our own, and how there’s often times issues and circumstances that can cause families to maybe not think that they can carry that child all the way to delivery. We women are joined by many black leaders, all who are praying for nonviolent life-affirming solutions for America's race wars, destruction of our families, and an end to the violence of abortion."

Cathryn Davis, of the Restoration Project, sees an awakening of the black community and an increase in numbers becoming involved. For years, the organization has spearheaded educational seminars for influential local black women, bringing in doctors, abortion industry experts and adoption advocates. So far the seminars have been held in 16 states. Until recently it took quite a bit of work to encourage local women to organize such an event. “Now (black) women are reaching out to me” to hold these events, Davis said.