Black genocide — that’s what Black leaders have historically considered measures like abortion, viewing it with suspicion; they’ve also strongly opposed taxpayer funding of abortion. Notable Black leaders like Fannie Lou Hamer, Dr. Mildred Jefferson, Dr. Dolores Bernadette Grier, Iowa Rep. June Franklin, Erma Clardy Craven, and even comedian Dick Gregory all viewed abortion and population control as genocide targeted toward their communities.
They had good reason to believe this. After all, Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was a member of the eugenics society and stacked her board of directors with eugenicists. She spoke to the Ku Klux Klan, spoke against immigrants, and favored forced sterilization. But it wasn’t just Sanger — Planned Parenthood’s ties to eugenics go well beyond its founder. Planned Parenthood’s former president Alan F. Guttmacher was a former VP of the eugenics society, and was responsible for moving Planned Parenthood into committing abortions. The suspicion in the Black community persisted, so Planned Parenthood appointed Black leaders to quell those suspicions. Despite this, a former Black Planned Parenthood board member even called Planned Parenthood’s eugenics roots “racist,” as have additional Black leaders.
While today, many Black leaders seem to have bought into Planned Parenthood’s sales pitch, pro-lifers have long contended that abortion is a tool of eugenics that disproportionately affects the Black community. And looking at the most recent data (2015) from the Centers for Disease Control showing numbers from 30 reporting areas, it’s easy to see why.
READ: The New York Times thinks legalized abortion fixes problems in the Black community. It doesn’t.
In 2015, the CDC reported a total of 638,169 total abortions. Since only 30 areas reported abortions by race/ethnicity, we estimated the total of abortions by multiplying the CDC’s abortions by their abortion percentage per category (CDC’s abortion totals are significantly lower than the Guttmacher Institute’s because the organizations gather abortion data differently.) Using the most recent US Census Bureau data estimates on race in the U.S., we estimate the following:
- Non-Hispanic white women have 36.9% of abortions = 235,484 (estimated) abortions annually.
- Non-Hispanic black women have 36.0% of abortions = 229,740 (estimated) abortions annually.
- Hispanic women have 18.5% of abortions = 118,061 (estimated) abortions annually.
What’s so striking about this? Black Americans make up just 12% of the U.S. population, yet have more than a third of the abortions.
2015 abortion data CDC by race (Table: Live Action News using CDC and US Census Bureau Data from 2015)
Live Action News also looked at the 2015 abortion rate (abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years), abortion ratio (abortions per 1,000 live births), estimated population percentages, and leading causes of death for 2015.
Black abortions
In 2015, though Blacks made up just 12% of the U.S. population, they accounted for 36 percent of reported abortions. The Black abortion rate was 3.6 times higher than the White abortion rate (25.1 v. 6.8) and 2.2 times higher than the Hispanic abortion rate (25.1 v. 11.2). More than 629 abortions were done every single day on Black women that year. In addition, Black abortions (229,740 estimated) outnumbered the top nine leading causes of death (225,955) for Black Americans combined. In fact, estimated Black abortion numbers were 25 times greater than homicides committed on Black Americans (229, 740 v. 9,038) that same year.
Hispanic abortions
In 2015, Hispanics made up 18% of the U.S. population, and accounted for 18.5 percent of reported abortions. The Hispanic abortion rate was 1.6 times higher than the White abortion rate (11.2 v. 6.8). The Hispanic abortion ratio was 1.3 times higher than the White abortion ratio (147 v. 111), and more than 323 abortions were done every day on Hispanic women. Hispanic abortions (118,061 est.) outnumbered the top six leading causes of deaths (112,528) for Hispanic Americans combined. Estimated Hispanic abortion numbers were over 40 times greater than homicides committed on Hispanic Americans (118,061 v. 2,886) that same year.
Hispanic top six leading causes of death CDC (Graph: Live Action News using CDC Data)
Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortion in the U.S., commits more than 35% of all abortions. But they don’t break down their abortion numbers by race. What might we find if they did? Previously published data from Life Dynamics (2011) and Protecting Black Life (2012) reveals that Planned Parenthood largely sets up facilities in or near minority communities. A more recent analysis from Life Issues Institute (2017) claims “the abortion giant has accelerated this targeting of minorities near its 25 new abortion mega-centers.”
Recently, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas also noted Planned Parenthood’s eugenic history, writing, “The use of abortion to achieve eugenic goals is not merely hypothetical. The foundations for legalizing abortion in America were laid during the early 20th-century birth control movement. That movement developed alongside the American eugenics movement. And significantly, Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger recognized the eugenic potential of her cause.”
Justice Thomas correctly pointed out that Sanger herself did not advocate abortion but regarded “the hundreds of thousands of abortions performed in America each year [as] a disgrace to civilization.” However, he astutely noted that “Sanger’s arguments about the eugenic value of birth control in securing ‘the elimination of the unfit’ apply with even greater force to abortion, making it significantly more effective as a tool of eugenics.”
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