ED JONES: Planned Parenthood's toll on blacks

With the anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Jan. 22, it is important to look at the impact that abortion has had on the black community, and at the legacy of Margaret Sanger, the controversial eugenicist — and onetime president of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

Sanger believed in socially engineering a better race of people. She stressed birth control and abortion as tools “to create a race of thoroughbreds” by stopping the handicapped, mentally ill and minorities from breeding. In “A Plan for Peace” she proposed a congressional department to “apply a stern and rigid policy of sterilization and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny is already tainted or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring.”

Sanger’s ideology led to the creation of Planned Parenthood in 1916.

Planned Parenthood began primarily to promote birth control and fight against the Comstock laws that made it illegal to send contraception and sex education materials through the mail. The U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial ruling on Roe v. Wade in 1973, however, made it easier for Planned Parenthood to expand into abortions. Since Roe v. Wade, more than 50 million unborn babies have been killed; more than 16 million of those were black babies.

Now, some will tell me that for an organization like Planned Parenthood, it’s not about race. Sure, the organization’s staffers simply believe they are doing good work to help low-income families. Yet the fact is, a higher percentage of black babies are aborted than babies of any other race. In 2004, abortion was the leading cause of death for blacks, more than HIV-AIDS, violent crime, accidents, heart disease and cancer combined.

In 2004, there were also 427 abortions for every 1,000 black births, compared with 161 per 1,000 for whites and 211 per 1,000 for Hispanics. Thirty-seven percent of black pregnancies ended in abortion, and while black women only make up 13 percent of the population, they account for 38 percent of all abortions. Approximately 1,275 black babies are killed every day in America. Who is to blame for all of this?

The blame could be placed on Planned Parenthood for continuing the practices that were based on the eugenics ideology. Studies have shown that Planned Parenthood offices tend to be located in predominantly black neighborhoods. This makes it easier for black women to have abortions and helps to encourage the abortions as an alternative to carrying the child and raising it or putting it up for adoption.

The blame can also be placed on Roe v. Wade for severely limiting state restrictions on abortion. Even if you agree that abortion should be legal, Roe v. Wade was a legal travesty. The Supreme Court protected abortion by reading between the lines of the Constitution in search of rights that simply aren’t in there.

The ruling was a weak attempt to justify an agenda to promote abortions nationwide. If you believe that life begins at conception, then Roe v. Wade breaks the core responsibility of government to protect the lives of individuals.

Planned Parenthood and Roe v. Wade play a diabolical role in the deaths of millions of black babies, but the real responsibility lies with the black individuals who are aborting their children. The responsibility to stop these abortions lies in the black communities and with black individuals.

Unfortunately, many prominent blacks helped Margaret Sanger in her endeavors, and today, many black leaders, including those of the NAACP, are either silent to the issue or continue to support efforts to increase abortions of black children.

When will the assault on unborn black Americans end?

Ed Jones, of Colorado Springs, is a former El Paso County commissioner and former member of the Colorado Senate. He hosts “The Ed Jones Show” on Saturdays at 7 a.m. on KVOR AM.