Rev. Walter B. Hoye II, founder of the Issues4Life Foundation, has been speaking out about the dangers posed by abortion against the Black community for many years. Live Action News recently spoke with him about the current state of the pro-life movement and what it can do to improve its effectiveness.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June of 2022, the pro-life movement has faced many challenges and setbacks. Abortion advocates have advanced their agenda using a variety of strategies, including promoting state-level pro-abortion ballot measures and spreading fear, misinformation, and outright propaganda via mainstream media outlets.
And while pro-lifers have certainly managed some achievements over the same period, recently reported abortion statistics and estimates suggest that the number of abortions in the United States is going up, not down.
Disturbingly, the Black community, which has historically been disproportionately impacted by abortion, has seen the sharpest abortion increases – in 2020, for example, 39.2% of total U.S. abortions were committed on Black women, but in 2021, that number increased nearly six percent to 41.5% of total abortions.
Black Americans account for only about 14% of the total U.S. population, and Black women of reproductive age (15-44) compose just 18.1% of the total Black population.
This means that nearly 42% of all U.S. abortions are being committed on a mere 2.5% of the population. Clearly, if we truly wish to end abortion, the pro-life movement must confront and effectively address this crisis.
ENDING ABORTION IS A WAR – AND WE MUST ACT ACCORDINGLY
Hoye noted that the pro-life movement has been “using basically the same strategies since 1973.” Consequently, in Hoye’s view, the movement “has not made the type of inroads” that are necessary to end abortion.
“I believe [pro-lifers] desire to see [the end of abortion]. They’re working hard to do good stuff,” Hoye stated. But, he emphasized, the movement’s current strategies are “not designed to win the war.”
Hoye noted that each battlefield in the war against abortion is different and requires its own unique strategy. But as pro-lifers, Hoye said, “I don’t think we’re specific enough. We’re sort of doing the same thing everywhere,” even though the people and communities involved have widely varying characteristics.
Drawing an analogy to World War II, Hoye pointed out that “there were underground resistors in France; there was underground resistance in Germany itself.” Pro-life leaders within the Black community, Hoye said, are the “underground resistance” of the American pro-life movement – but these leaders could be more effectively utilized. Hoye observed:
Underground resistance can tell us things, like, where are the targets located? What’s the strength [of the enemy]? And what’s their weak spot? They have a ton of information. And we don’t really take advantage of that.
Abortion is here because Black Americans are here. And if you want to be effective, you will specialize in reaching Black America. [Otherwise,] you’re not going to be successful.
Extending the World War II analogy, Hoye noted that, during that era, the American people were of one mind. “If we didn’t win, we’d end up being slaves to Germany,” he said, adding: “So there was no way we were not going to win…. Everybody was on the same page.”
By contrast, Hoye observed: “I can’t say that’s true about the pro-life movement today.”
INCREMENTALISM IS A LOSING STRATEGY
To illustrate the lack of a united vision for victory within the contemporary pro-life movement, Hoye referenced the current trend among many self-described “pro-life” organizations and politicians toward embracing “incrementalism” – including and especially efforts to pass laws which impose various gestational limits on abortion without prohibiting it entirely.
Hoye told Live Action News that he feels this is not a winning strategy. “There’s no example that I’ve ever seen in history where an incremental strategy won the day, and there’s no biblical model of it,” he stated. Adopting incrementalist tactics, Hoye believes, is equivalent to “attempting to win a war outside of any winning strategy or model that has ever been seen or known.”
TO WIN, WE MUST SUPPORT THE “UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE”
“Can you imagine the abortion industry if Black America no longer supported it?” Hoye asked, noting that without Black customers, Big Abortion would crumble. To that end, pro-lifers must focus on increasing pro-life sentiment within the Black community.
For example, Hoye’s organization, the Issues4Life Foundation, specializes in targeted, individual outreach to Black leaders, particularly faith leaders — because they are the people who can most effectively communicate a life-affirming message to the larger community, which, in turn, can inspire and motivate individuals to get involved in the fight to protect human life.
Hoye also praised the work of other Black pro-life leaders, including Star Parker; Dr. La Verne Tolbert, who once was a board member for Planned Parenthood but has since devoted her work to protecting life; and the late Reverend Dean Nelson, who accomplished great things through the Frederick Douglass Foundation and the Douglass Leadership Institute. Leaders like these, Hoye said, need our support.
In fact, according to Hoye, the most effective thing everyday pro-lifers can do toward winning the war is to help equip and support these and other members of the Black pro-life “underground resistance,” supplying the necessary resources to empower them to carry out this critical work.
What might this support look like on an individual level? “You’ve got to talk to God,” Hoye answered. “Ask Him to tell you what you need to do, no matter what it is.”
An individual may only be able to help in what seems like a small way, but “if you’re doing His will,” Hoye said, “He’ll take that little mustard seed, that grain of faith, and win it all.”
