January 21, 2011

Abortion and Race

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Peter Kirsanow is upset that the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights refuses to discuss an explosive topic:

Black Abortions: The Forbidden Topic

….Nearly one out of every two black pregnancies ends in abortion. Blacks account for more than forty percent of all abortions in America, a rate that dwarfs that of any other race. Does anyone doubt that if such disparities existed on other serious issues, advocacy groups would be clamoring for hearings? Why the silence? Are some lives less valuable than others?

I don’t know if that statistic is correct. For now, I’ll take his word for it. Nor did I know that the Civil Rights Commission is forbidden by law from addressing abortion — though I can certainly imagine why it might be.

But exactly which advocacy groups does Kirsanow think should be clamoring for hearings? Feminist groups? They think abortion is OK, so there’s no reason for them to be concerned if one group has a higher abortion rate than others. Civil rights groups? Only if they think high abortion rates are somehow unfair to blacks. Conservative groups who don’t think anyone should be allowed to get an abortion? Bingo.

Meh. If you don’t like abortion, fine. We’ll all be arguing about this until we go to our graves. But trying to race bait the issue? That’s pathetic.

And while we’re on the subject, if you want to know which states make it easier and which states make it harder for women of all races to get abortions, check out our interactive map here.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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