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| Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York City |
Archbishop Dolan reacts to the removal of a billboard which stated that the most dangerous place for African-Americans is the womb.
While some have painted this as racist, Dr. Alveda King, the niece of slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Director of African-American Outreach at Priests for Life, had other thoughts. She blasted removal of the billboard as censorship. Says King:
The National Black Prolife Coalition had this to say in it's press release yesterday:
Dr. Alveda King
Black people in New York and all over the country should be outraged at the numbers of black babies we lose every single day to abortion. An astonishing 60 percent of African-American pregnancies in the five boroughs of New York City end in abortion. That’s unfathomable!
“Some people are angry about the billboard, but that anger is misplaced. We should all be upset and heartbroken that so many African-American women have bought into the lie that abortion will solve their problems. Legal abortion has been with us for 38 years, and the problems facing the African-American community have not gone away.”
Dr. King concluded: “The message of this billboard is totally accurate. The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb! It’s a travesty of justice that it is being taken down.”
“New York has been dubbed, by the media, the abortion capitol of the nation. Where else should the debate take place than in the city where more black babies are aborted than are born alive”, said Catherine Davis of the Black Prolife Coalition. Sixty percent of the abortions in New York City are performed on black women. “That is not an accident, and we believe Planned Parenthood Founder, Margaret Sanger’s ‘Negro Project’ is why,” Davis continued. “Black women have been targeted by the abortion industry since its inception, and New York provides the snapshot of what it looks like when that succeeds.”
[snip]
On Monday, February 28, 2011 the National Black ProLife Coalition will hold a National Day of Mourning (http://www.blackprolifecoalition.org/) to call attention to the genocidal impact of abortion on communities of color. “We will mourn the loss of possibility in our aborted children. We will mourn for the women who have lost their lives or have been maimed at the abortionist’s hand,” said Arnold Culbreath of Protecting Black Life.
“And when the mourning is completed, we will continue to help women in New York City and across America to have access to free services that will help them keep and care for their children”, said Dean Nelson, Vice President of Underserved Outreach for CareNet, the nation’s largest network of Pregnancy Care Centers. The National Black Prolife Coalition, CareNet, EMC Pregnancy Centers and local leaders are fighting to defeat New York City Council Bill #371 that aims to shut down all Pregnancy Care Centers in the city.
I can't help but wonder if there is a higher rate of abortion clinic mishaps among African Americans in New York City to match the higher abortion statistics (infections, perforated bowels or other damaged organs, some requiring a hysterectomy, anesthetic overdose, etc.).
Where should the charge of racism be pitched? Why not in the direction of media and officials who ignore hard data? Let's face it, if 60% of African American babies were dying in the womb of any other cause but abortion, it would not be so conveniently dismissed. Who among those persons aborted might have discovered a cure for cancer or diabetes, invented technology to permit space travel, or just lived life as an ordinary person who graced us with his or her presence?
Archbishop Dolan of New York City didn't mince words in his post, "Unpleasant Truths":
It’s unpleasant to look at open heart surgery, or a pair of diseased lungs, or to see a person who has lost fingers, toes, or the esophagus, all due to smoking. The ads are nauseating, even hideous, to see. But the New York State Department of Health, among many others, sponsors these kinds of ads because they know that they can help to save lives.
Arcbp Dolan
Another ad has been generating some fierce reactions. Here in New York, a billboard was recently displayed, that simply stated “The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb.” This message was accompanied by a photograph of a young, African-American girl.
Is that message unpleasant? Is it upsetting? Does it get our attention?
Yes!
Because the message is somberly true. The City of New York’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently released its vital statistics from a year ago which showed that 59.8% of African-American pregnancies in New York City ended in abortion. That’s even higher than the chilling city-wide average of 41% of pregnancies ending in abortion. (I joined other community leaders from a diversity of religious and ethnic backgrounds at a press conference sponsored by the Chiaroscuro Foundation about this a few weeks ago.)
So why has the billboard suddenly been taken down? What was it that moved many of our elected officials to condemn this ad and call for the gag order. Are they claiming that free speech is a right enjoyed only by those who favor abortion or their pet causes? Do they believe that unpleasant and disturbing truths should not be spoken? Or are they afraid that when people are finally confronted with the reality of the horror of abortion, and with the toll that it is taking in our city, particularly in our African-American community, that they will be moved to defend innocent, unborn, human life?
Perhaps I’m more saddened by this intolerance right now because on Monday I will be celebrating the funeral mass for Doctor Bernard Nathanson(*), that giant of the pro-life movement, who died earlier this week. If you don’t know Dr. Nathanson’s story, you should. At one time, he fought hard to promote and expand abortion on demand in this state and in our country. He was one of the founders of the National Abortion Rights Action League. He ran what he called the “largest abortion clinic in the Western world,” and bragged about personally performing thousands of abortions. But, when Dr. Nathanson was confronted with the undeniable truth, when he could see the unborn baby in the womb through the use of ultrasound technology, he abandoned his support for abortion and became a crusader for the protection of the life of the baby in the womb.
His courage and bravery should be an inspiration to us, especially when we have to face unpleasant and sobering truths.
(*) Link added.
- Edited @10:36am
- Edited @10:36am
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