Mehcad Brooks drinks to forty years of Roe v. Wade in a Center for Reproductive Rights ad.
Hey Mehcad,
I saw the “Happy 4oth Anniversary Baby” video you starred in. After watching, I felt burdened to write you a letter sharing my thoughts on it.
Children are dying in America. Their bodies hold bullets from gun fights on Chicago streets. Their souls are crushed in schools where they’re “passing” classes without reading comprehension skills. Their hearts faint from fear in tragic crimes like the Newtown shootings. All these deaths are worthy of attention. Some are openly mourned by the masses, while others are remembered by few. The highest number of children’s deaths comes as a result of abortion. It’s estimated that over 3,200 a day die, and over 54 million have been murdered since 1973.
You believe that abortion is a right worth fighting for. I ask you to dig deeper and think beyond what you’ve heard. Have you ever met a woman who’s suffered from post-abortion syndrome? If not, find a lady, and listen to her story. To make it easier, click here and read these women’s tales. Have you ever seen a picture of an aborted fetus? Do you know that babies are aborted at 6 months? Have you seen the instruments they use to terminate a pregnancy? If not, take a look. Did you know there are people who’ve survived abortions and live with medical complications?
You’re a black man. What a great gift that is. It’s important for you to know the struggles of your ancestors. Have you ever heard of the phrase “Black Genocide”? Find out what Jesse Jackson had to say about it before his presidential run. Research the history of Planned Parenthood. Look for the words “eugenics” and “population control,” and search for the “Negro Project.” Make sure it’s a broad search with multiple sources. Some will honor Planned Parenthood’s tainted past, so keep searching to hear both sides.
If you get weary of the ugly, look at the beautiful. Find crisis pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, churches, and families who take in kids, give desperate women homes, and care for broken people.
Why should you invest time in this? When you acted in that video, you became a spokesperson. You are now a face promoting a billion-dollar industry that defends an evil law. You’re aware that Roe v. Wade had a 40th anniversary, but do you truly understand what you’re celebrating? If you hear the truth, will you still chuckle? If you know the suffering, is a toast still in order?
In the ad, you’re holding a rose with seductive music in the background. It’s such a lovely setting to romanticize this law. Truth is, abortion isn’t romantic. Women abort on hospital tables with their legs in stirrups and hearts beating wildly in their chests. Afterwards, they go in a recovery room, but for many, recovery still hasn’t come. Even the most confident are rarely casual with their decision. Some will brush it off, saying it was a means to an end – that it made them a “better” parent to their other kids, helped them pursue goals.
Those who’ve gone in for their sixth, seventh, or eighth abortion won’t say as much. They’re busy contemplating hard choices and permanent decisions. They hear the sounds of their consciences questioning if they made the right choice. If they’re awake, they may hear the sound of the vacuum sucking out fetal remains from a child whose face they’ll never see. Later some will hear the voices of laughing children who are the same age their kids would have been.
As for the red roses, they aren’t often held in the hands of charming men. Roses may come before or after the abortion, if they come at all. Friends reassure them they made the right choice; husbands get them a gift to make them feel better. Some women will have flowers laid on coffins and in funeral homes because they died from botched abortions.
The 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is a time not to laugh, but to mourn. It’s doesn’t call for creepy congratulatory videos; it calls for change. I’ve stood outside many abortion clinics watching black man after black man, bringing in his lady to abort their baby. If you want to promote a message, I have a great one for you. It’s called responsibility. But before you promote it, you have to own it. It starts with wiping the creepy grin off your face and learning what our generation is lacking. Young men need to know that relationships aren’t about wining and dining, but rather about commitment and honor. Young girls must know they’re beautiful, and they don’t have to give their bodies away to find love.
I don’t know you, Mehcad, but I believe you’re better than this video. If you aren’t now, you can be one day. I know that the Center for Reproductive Rights needed a face, and you said yes. But our race, this young generation, and our nation need more than funny faces. We need men with courage. We desperately need black men with integrity. It will cost you something to have it. You’ll lose popularity and promotion, but you’ll gain respect and have a voice that truly makes a difference.
Above everything, abortion is wrong ultimately because it destroys children who are the dream of God’s heart. Mehcad, you are one of His dreams come to life. You’re uniquely made, wanted, and loved by God. Discover that truth, and let it lead you away from all the lies.
