New Anti-Abortion Billboard

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NY City has (had) a new feature making the headlines: an anti-abortion billboard that says 'The most dangerous place of an African American is the womb. The link is to an MSNBC video, so it may take time to load.

Apparently the black community is in an uproar, and a CNN article cited claims of racism and sexism (the claim of sexism is seconded in the video). Critics say it is a a racially motivated attack on women in tough positions and an attempt to deny them necessary health care.

Unfortunately, the billboard is also right. A recent study showed that 60% of all African American pregnancies in NY City end in abortion! So much for 'safe, legal, and rare'.

Of course, the racism attack is . The pastor-spokesman for the group that put it up is black and, I get the impression, the rest of the board is, too. The sexism claim is hard to see, as well, if only for the fact that the very nature of the discussion singles out women (men can't have abortions, after all).

Apparently, the billboard was taken down today, possibly over fears of violence. Protestors have been harrassing the workers of a restaurant positioned under the billboard, even though they have nothing to do with it at all.

 

Honestly, at this point, I really don't think the same message could be conveyed in a more PC manner. In the video, everything Karen Hunter accused the Reverend of was read into the billboard. Nothing was actually there. It all came from the context of the national abortion debate, which at this point is impossible to avoid.

The billboard isn't sexist. It isn't racist. It doesn't condemn or criminalize anything It's just a message from one part of the African American community to the rest of the community about what's happening to their children (and, by extension, their families, though there are plenty more statistics about that).

She talks about having a discussion that leads to healing, but that's not the discussion she chose to have. And, to be perfectly clear, it was her choice. She could have come on the show and said, 'Yes, 60% of African American babies in NY City are being aborted. What do you suggest we do about it? How can we change that?' Instead, she chose to attack.

 

Actually the roughness of the message is par for the course in NYC. Have you seen their anti-smoking and anti-drinking and driving campaigns? I could use a lot of words to describe them, but "subtlety" would not be among them.