In the loud, raucous Roe v. Wade debate, we’ve heard a lot about the overreaching sacrifices women can face when having unwanted babies and about their rights to control their own bodies through abortions. Sympathy is widespread, while other, less-discussed issues need equal attention, such as the especially high rate of abortions afflicting Black Americans with approval, encouragement and help from many white Americans.
Abortion, we should keep in mind, is not a one-way proposition. While we should respect pregnant women, what an abortion gets rid of is not just gobs of tissue. We are talking about unborn children with wondrous possibilities in this world and the same natural rights as the mothers. Extinguishing the helpless and adorable without defensible purposes, such as serious maternal health issues, is not what one should expect from humane sensibilities.
Consider that studies show a pregnant Black woman is five times more likely than a pregnant white woman to have an abortion. Consider reports telling us that roughly half of all Black pregnancies end in the death of the unborn children with consequences felt in numerous ways. Back in 2002, for example, the late philosopher Michael Novak showed that the Black population would be 36 percent higher without the incredible number of abortions, and think how this continued reduction of possible Black voters has affected their political power.
