Race and the Philly abortion doctor trial

From theGrio:

Dr. Kermit Gosnell is accused of running a house of horrors.  And we can all agree that the crimes for which he is accused are horrific, gruesome and unspeakable. But there is a story behind the story that some are missing in this case, and that is the issue of race.

As it turns out, Gosnell allegedly treated his patients of color—his regular clientele— differently from his white patients.  White suburban women are said to have been brought into a separate area that was cleaner than the facilities reserved for poor, minority and immigrant patients.  Gosnell reportedly provided better, more hygienic conditions for his white clients because they were “more likely to file complaints” about receiving second-rate care.

Read more HERE.

Abortion Foes Don't Care About Women's Rights or Civil Rights

Recently in Philadelphia, a doctor was charged with eight counts of murder, including the death of a woman in a botched abortion, and seven babies that were born alive, according to the D.A.'s office.  Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, his wife and eight others allegedly turned their clinic, the innocuously-sounding Women's Medical Society into "a house of horrors" that performed "botched and illegal abortions."  Containers in the squalid West Philly facility were purportedly filled with fetal body parts, and the office reeked of cat excrement.  Be forewarned that the 281-page grand jury report is not for the faint of heart.

Typically, the women who went to Dr. Gosnell's office were women of color, some immigrants, and poor.  Desperate, they had no other choice.  And the heinous criminal acts Dr. Gosnell is accused of committing really amount to the proverbial and anecdotal "back-alley" abortions women often faced before Roe v. Wade was decided 38 years ago.  Anti-choice proponents will use such opportunities to double down against a woman's right to choose.  They will even invoke slavery and civil rights when discussing abortion.  In reality, the problem is that women need more access, not more restricted access, to safe, quality reproductive services.  And the Christian right cares little, if at all, about women's or civil rights.

"Abortion is a legal common routine medical procedure. Yet for 25 years, the state of PA has banned Medicaid funding for abortion," said Susan Schewel, Executive Director of the Women's Medical Fund. The group raises money to provide abortions to women who have chosen to have one but cannot afford it.  Schewel believes the answer is not singling abortion providers for new regulations, but public funding for the procedure.  "Abortion is the only routine medical procedure not covered by Medicaid. This prohibition on Medicaid payment for abortion leaves desperate women vulnerable to sub-standard providers," Schewel noted.

The Women's Medical Fund took a look at its own records, at the women they helped in that West Philadelphia neighborhood over an eight-week period in 2010.  These were six women with an average monthly income of $503, four of whom were on Medicaid, and two of whom were uninsured.  And two were unemployed.  One was a rape victim, while another was a domestic abuse victim with a protective order.  Five were mothers, including a homeless woman.  None of these women were able to afford the $350 to $450 needed for an abortion procedure, and none had the insurance to cover the cost.

Meanwhile, the ultra-right tends to grandstand and demagogue on the matter of a woman's right to choose.  Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) -- who could not hold his Senate seat yet is planning a 2012 presidential run -- recently told CNS News that it is "remarkable for a black man" like President Obama to support abortion rights.  After all, who is more qualified to speak on what black men should or should not think than Mr. Santorum?   "For decades certain human beings were wrongly treated as property and denied liberty in America because they were not considered persons under the constitution," Santorum said. "Today other human beings, the unborn of all races, are also wrongly treated as property and denied the right to life for the same reason; because they are not considered persons under the constitution. I am disappointed that President Obama, who rightfully fights for civil rights, refuses to recognize the civil rights of the unborn in this country."  It is a common strategy of abortion foes to compare abortion to slavery, even a "black holocaust," and create a false moral equivalency between abortion and the civil rights violations against African-American slaves.

Meanwhile, theocratic GOP members of Congress are proposing the crudely worded "The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act."   Current law allows for federal funding of abortions only in the case of rape or incest.  If enacted, the new legislation would limit this exemption to victims of "forcible rape."  Victims of statutory rape and incest victims over 18 would be on their own, presumably because they "asked for it," as the cold-blooded callousness of the bill suggests.  This is what happens when Taliban are allowed to write the laws.  Chances are that it won't reach the president's desk.  But the bill leaves a distinct chill in the air.


I dare say that conservatives such as Santorum just don't like civil rights. As a senator, he received a 25 percent rating from the ACLU, indicating a strong anti-civil rights record.  Santorum also received a 27 percent rating from the National Education Association, as someone who is against public schools.  And he said as much himself: "Mass education is really the aberration," adding that "It's amazing that so many kids turn out to be normal considering the weird socialization they get in public schools."

In addition, CURE gave Santorum, an anti-rehabilitation lawmaker, a 25 percent rating.  He voted to limit death penalty appeals, and to increase penalties for drug offenses. It seems he had little concern for the civil rights of blacks and Latinos who are caught up in an unfair, racially skewed criminal justice system.

If Santorum had cared so much about black people, he would have taken action to deal with the gun violence and murders that are disproportionately affecting communities of color.  Yet, he voted to loosen license and background checks at gun shows, and voted to sell guns without trigger locks.  Santorum also voted to prohibit lawsuits against weapon manufacturers.

Of the victims of Hurricane Katrina he said: "[Y]ou have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."        

Santorum voted against food stamp eligibility for blind or disabled legal immigrants. He also opposed a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits for people who exhausted their state jobless benefits.

And not surprisingly, Santorum received a 0 rating from NARAL, a completely anti-choice voting record.  As a U.S. Senator he voted no on allocating $100 million to reduce teen pregnancy through education and contraceptives.  Yet, the Christian Coalition gave Santorum a perfect 100 pro-family rating.  We have to wonder what warped sense of family values they had in mind.  

Those who invoke race and slavery when denying a woman's right to choose are trying to obfuscate and change the subject.  Their policies are hurting poor women of color.  As the most vocal opponents of abortion preach family values, they advocate for the most atrocious policies for women, their families and their communities.  And for all their talk about the sanctity of life, these so-called pro-lifers are very selective when it comes to the type of life they deem worthy of protection.  When the door is shut on the rights of poor, black and brown women, these women are left with no other option than seeking out the Dr. Gosnells of society, substandard providers who are ready to exploit them for profit.  And no good can come from that.

Anti-abortion billboards claim black children are an endangered species

Published in theGrio

Are black children an endangered species? The answer is yes, according to billboards posted throughout Atlanta by anti-abortion groups. Although their answer is correct, their reasoning behind that answer is completely wrong.

The anti-abortion organizations Georgia Right to Life and the Radiance Foundation have placed 65 billboards throughout the city of Atlanta, with more to come. The signs feature a sad-faced black boy with a caption that reads "Black children are an endangered species." The billboards have caused controversy because, as critics would suggest, they single out black women and unfairly paint them as criminals who kill their children.

According to the groups' website, toomanyaborted.com, legalized abortion is a crisis in the black community, with 40 percent of pregnancies among African-Americans ending in induced abortion. In their eyes, abortion in the African-American community is an evil like Jim Crow segregation and eugenics, with abortion clinics placed in "urban areas where Blacks reside." They claim that Planned Parenthood's founder wanted to reduce the black population. Further, the groups suggest that the Roe v. Wade decision--which legalized a woman's right to choose-- has led to the deterioration of black families, sexual promiscuity, child abuse and urban decay.

The two organizations also point to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that 57.4 percent of abortions were performed on black women in 2006, although blacks only make up 30 percent of the state's population. Georgia is second only to New York and Texas in the number of black women who have abortions. Meanwhile, the CDC data provides no evidence that black children are an endangered species because of abortion.

Georgia Right to Life and the Radiance Foundation take issue with the ways in which their campaign is being characterized. "Contrary to the statements being made, the Endangered Species Campaign is not designed to target black women, but is designed to educate. The toomanyaborted.com website has documented information to support our contention that the number of black babies aborted in the U. S. and in Georgia are at holocaustic levels," Catherine Davis, minority outreach coordinator of Georgia Right to Life, told theGrio. "Since 1973 more than 18,000,000 black babies have been aborted. Georgia, in 2008, set a record in the numbers of abortions performed on black women, almost 21,000. We are not targeting black women, but are fighting for black babies."

Georgia Right to Life, the state's primary anti-abortion group, opposes abortion even in the case of rape or incest. The organization announced it would support legislation that would make it a crime to "solicit a woman to have an abortion based on the race or sex of the unborn child."

It is more than reasonable to say that black children are an endangered species. Some would argue that they have held that status for 400 years. The proof is evident, but not because of abortion, as the so-called "pro-life" advocates would suggest. Rather, black children today are in a crisis because of poverty, hunger, and a lack of opportunity. At some point in their childhood, 90 percent will require food stamps. An increasing number of black children, 3.7 million, do not know when or where they will find their next meal, according to a USDA report. They are subjected to an inferior education in crumbling schools. Although they are 15 percent of American children, they are 32 percent of the 510,000 children in foster care, and are less likely to be adopted than white children. In many depressed urban communities, they face a cradle-to-prison pipeline. And poor children of color are more likely to face health challenges. Perhaps the most recent example of the endangered status of black children is 9-year-old Zumante Lucero, who died of a severe asthma attack in July 2009 after his family was mistakenly cut from Medicaid.

The problem is that the pro-life groups are never around to speak up on behalf of children such as Zumante, so forgive me if I think these eleventh-hour cries of black genocide ring hollow. In fact, the Christian Right never stood up for African-American children, and always supported the gutting of social safety net programs that would help them. Focused singularly on fetuses, abortion opponents give the impression they care little about the well-being of children who were already born, and who struggle to survive in the midst of deprivation, hopelessness, and unresponsive public policy.

So yes, African-American children are an endangered species, but clearly there is a difference of opinion as to why. We must focus on the welfare of vulnerable and at-risk youth who slip through the cracks, as we safeguard the health of women, and protect their right to control their own bodies.