February 2003
Joining the irreverent Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton is Reverend Carlton W. Veazey, another minister of the Gospel who supports “choice.”
Veazey is president and CEO of a group once known as the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (can you believe it?), now disguised as the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC). He founded a program called the Black Church Initiative, purportedly in response to the high pregnancy rate among blacks teens. According to RCRC’s web site, the initiative “encourages and assists African American clergy and laity in addressing teen childbearing, sexuality education, unintended pregnancies, and other reproductive health issues within the context of African American culture and religion.”
Right. It looks good on paper, but this so-called religious group is closely associated with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, founded in 1923 by Margaret Sanger, who considered “all non-Aryan people” unfit to breed. Giving his wholehearted endorsement, the good Rev. Veazey said: “I support Planned Parenthood 100 percent.”
Margaret Sanger had her own ideas about “addressing unintended pregnancies” in the black community. She instituted the “Negro Project” in 1939, and sought out prominent, trusting black ministers to share her solution to the problem: contraception, sterilization and abortion. “The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We do not want the word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it occurs to any of their more rebellious members,” Sanger wrote.
Right. In our morally relative society, most Americans — including blacks — can no longer be reached through any “religious appeal.” Sadly, blacks continue to vote for a political party intent on making sure they remain unreachable. In 2003, the religious appeal has been replaced by a clever “right to privacy” argument.
In his 1977 article for Right to Life News, a once-reverent Jesse Jackson correctly observed that the right to privacy argument was used to justify slavery. “If one accepts the position that life is private, and therefore you have the right to do with it as you please, one must also accept the conclusion of that logic. That was the premise of slavery.” This “right” is now used to justify child-killing. Slavery proponents devalued human life; abortion proponents devalue human life.
Jackson saw through the duplicity of the pro-abortion argument, but between 1977 and 1988, he had second thoughts.
While he and his fellow black liberal elites in the Democratic party incessantly clamor for racial preferences and accuse white conservatives of racial insensitivity, they are blind to their own insensitivity. Black liberals unconditionally support a political agenda that dehumanizes the unborn, yet base their “need” for government entitlements and privileges on the history of the dehumanization of their ancestors!
And those ancestors faced some serious dehumanization. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, northern and southern delegates debated whether to count a slave as a whole person for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives, or not to count them at all. In order to ratify the Constitution, a compromise was reached — the three-fifths compromise. Five slaves would be equal to only three whites. In other words, a slave was considered three-fifths of a person. Less than human.
While twenty-first century Americans see the disgrace of such a concession, some of those same Americans are blind to the indignity of the abortion proponent’s compromise — that a woman has the right to choose what to do with her body even if it means taking her unborn child’s life. Just like the slave, the unborn has no dignity or worth. Less than human.
In 1977, Jackson was clear and strong in his argument against abortion. He sent this telegram to Congress: “AS A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE I MUST OPPOSE THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR A POLICY OF KILLING INFANTS…” What happened to his conscience and that of any minister of the Gospel who supports anything remotely connected to the killing of babies? As the political stakes rose in his presidential bid in 1988, Jackson traded his conscience and the call of God for another: the god of publicity and power.
He said: “The God I serve is a forgiving God.” Right. Thank God for America’s sake. And Rev. Jackson’s.
See Blacks for Life
Black Genocide
A Black Woman’s Voice: Abortion Hurts our Community
After Abortion
Update (9/20): Margaret Sanger’s quotes are taken from her speeches and work. I didn’t use original documents; I relied on secondary sources. See the link for an example.
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This sickens me. Once again you leave me angry and speechless (which is a good thing).
I’m so mad that I’m sputtering.
La Shawn,
Unfortunately it is a matter of choice and will be until one particular dynamic changes, I’ll explain. I am a man and will fight for parental/espousal notification and similar things because this where I have any angle of control. What is really discouraging is the fact that if left up to men alone then abortion would clearly be more restricted and therein lays the rub. Right now we are more pro-choice because women are more pro-choice, when a clear majority of women clearly decide abortion is not in their interests true changes will follow. I am not saying it is only up to women but they do hold the trump card, a majority of men will go with them on thiss issue.
My sister told me once during the Clinton Presidency, “It is discouraging for me because we (women) elected this man and with this we show every man what we accept, and what is that? Tell me what I want to hear, fill me with empty promises and just say the right things and I’ll be yours. The last Republican President to receive a majority of the women’s vote was Richard Nixon… in 1960! If it were left up to women alone, on top of Carter and Clinton we would have had McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis and Gore. If left up to men we would have been spared Carter and Clinton, I am beyond frustration!”
La Shawn women rejected Reagan and both President Bush I and II, left up to women we would have had neither!
La Shawn my question. Is this going to be the time when women vote with men? Bush will win the male vote by a mile. If we end up with President Kerry I can hear my sister. “Great! Let tyrants live, just give me my right to commit infanticide!”
Love that picture - where did you get it from?
Thanks for the comments, everyone. This is one of this issues I’m passionate about.
Ralph - My theory is that because of the collapse of the family, there are more liberal-minded people out there. The more single women there are who receive government assistance, the more they’ll turn to the politician who promises the status quo or more benefits. Typically, married women vote Republican, especially conservative Christians.
Lola - I can’t remember. I may have bookmarked the location. I’ll look it up and get back to you.
Even as a preemie, that baby is fearfully & wonderfully made AND complet in body and soul. Amazing that while science continues to roll back the age at which one can be born and have a strong chance of survival w/o ill effect (At the hospital where my latest soon was born 4 weeks early, I saw a picture of a baby delivered there at approx 20 weeks (5 months) and the same kid at 1 year and he looked pretty healthy to me, if a bit small like a normal 7 month old baby), yet abortionists continue to push back the cutoff for murder.
Sigh
Actually, Ralph, I don’t think women are more pro-choice than men. The early feminists were against abortion because they realized that many men would be happy if they didn’t have to worry about products of sexual activity, because they could be easily be disposed of via legal abortion. These feminists saw abortion as a tool for controlling women’s fertility, and really making them slaves to men. Motherhood was the one arena where women had undisputed power in the 19th century, and many of the early feminists were arguing for respect of that position.
Still today, many women are forced into “choosing” abortion, whether by the father of the child, family members, or whoever. Not very long ago, Ellen Barkin proclaimed that if her 12-yr-old daughter got pregnant, she’d force her daughter to get an abortion, even if the girl were kicking and screaming. There’s choice for you.
My own feeling is that education and technology can really swing the balance of power now, as many people don’t realize how early everything develops in fetuses. I was shocked the first time I got a sonogram in my doctor’s office - at 5 weeks gestation - and saw a beating heart. The next time I went, a month later, I saw the spine and arms and legs. These machines are becoming cheaper and cheaper, and if they become a standard part of obstetrical exams, more people are going to be repulsed by abortion. And the stories of ever-younger preemies living and having normal lives will start bringing down the walls of what people consider “human”.
This is just a part of the problem - the other end, euthanasia/doctor-assisted suicide is the other. Human life is not getting the respect it deserves. People have decided that certain life is not worth living - the advocates for the disabled have really stepped up in this area, such as in the Terry Schiavo case. I’ve had many people in my family who work with the disabled - mentally and physically - and I’ve met enough of them to know that there is a value to their lives.
Meep and La Shawn,
I agree with the single/married women aspect, in fact with men, single or not, they voted for Bush in similar percentages, while white married women actually voted for Republican with slightly higher percentages then men of both camps. The disparity of showed interests between the married and non-married groups is greater between women.
But I know I am right about abortion in the sense that women show a tendency to view it as an issue at their discretion. Even some with pro-Life leanings resent men over-reaching and want women to have more final say. That is why I say when a clear majority of women have decided they have had enough, it will be a done deal. If one looks at women’s collective choices to govern, single or not, as mentioned in my prior post, it speaks volume to priority.
The real bottom line is that if more minorities, male or female voted for Conservatives it would be a mute point. I find it amazing that the average Hispanic or African American is more socially conservative then the average Caucasian, while the Caucasian is definitely more fiscally conservative. As long as liberals can continue to drive a wedge between minorities and conservatives then they will continue to frustrate the social structures of our nation. Minorities at some point need to give the Republicans a chance. I know I am just some religious white guy with eight kids and happily married, but I don’t know what more a man could do than this President has done. As Don King said about Bush, “The man not only talks the talk, he walks the walk!” I agree, but maybe I am missing something.
Lovely photo. I’ve just celebrated 44 married years with a man who was about that size when he was born prematurely.
Great. The bored troll returns. — Admin
I want to also add that a strong conservative coalition with true power to address issues like abortion will never exist until more minorities realize that social conservatism and issues like school choice are more important than an intrusive big government. I understand the reasons many minority members feel the way that they do, and why they view federal government differently and I also know racism still exists. But I also know that times are changing, my father and relatives are white southerners from North and South Carolina as well as Virginia. La Shawn, I will tell you times are very different now, there is no comparison. My wife is from New Jersey and I honestly think my relatives down South have a lot healthier views about race then they do up in the North. But either way the times are way past following old assumptions.
THERE JUST ARE NOT ENOUGH WHITE CONSERVATIVES TO DISPLAY THE CLEAR MANDATE NEEDED TO CARRY FORWARD WITH MOMENTUM ON THESE ISSUES. We need the social conservatives from the minority community to start voting as such, the Democrats will never change for the better until this happens. As long as people like Julian Bond have clout, the media will defer to such people. I look forward to the support.
So small. So adorable. So human.
Veazey is about as sleazey and slick as they get. He and Jeremiah Wright are pushing an anti-family agenda disguised as “black preachers.” BEWARE little sheep.
This is why I say that liberals are not only traitorous to the nation (which is another argument), but traitorous to the human race.
Those who’d like to know more about the seedy history of Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood, can go to:
and download for the entire text of a 400+ book on the topic. It’s called The Pivot of Civilization in Historical Perspective and gives the entire context of what Sanger and her allies were doing in their own words.
–Mike Perry, Inkling blog, Seattle
Wonderful article. The millions of lives offered up each year to ‘choice’ is a disgrace. But I have to comment on one point. I hesitate to post this for fear that it will be taken the wrong way.
In your mention of the Constitutinal compromise that granted three fifths credit for each slave, the order you listed the northern and southern states suggested that it was the north that wanted to count them as whole people and the south wanted to exclude them. This was probably not your intent since the reverse was true.
The Northern states did not want to grant the south additional representation by allowing slaves that would not be able to vote to be counted for purposes of population. The south was eager to have them count since it would augment the total population in assigning seats in eth House of Representatives. The compromise allowed the Constitution to be ratified and also limited the ability of the south to politically stop the eventual end of slavery. Had slaves been counted as whole persons, the south could probably have blocked any legal move to end slavery in this nation.
Slavery itself was a disgrace, but the compromise was a move intended to make its end possible.
The statement that liberals are traitors to the entire human race is absolutely on target. People who choose to believe things that are so incompatible with scriptures on a humanist basis show one thing, they are more concerned with ideas and clever ethics arguments than with right and wrong. When you show that you do not care about right and wrong you have decided against the good of human existence, and for the devices of the wicked one… It is incredibly hard to believe that people who call themselves Christians can cling so desperately to an anti-christian practice. Michael.
It is incredibly hard to believe that people who call themselves Christians can cling so desperately to an anti-christian practice.
Excellent. I contemplate this daily. And “Christians” who believe women have the “right” to kill their babies will have to answer for it. They’re in my prayers.
Dear La Shawn, I found your site through a link from Michelle’s site, and glad I did. Bless you and God keep you. I am reminded that with God, all things are possible. Without him, all things are permissable. Thanks, Terry
I found the picture of the tiny baby extremely happy and sad. This lucky baby has parents and doctors that care. So many other tiny black children don’t have that same care…so many…
But seeing that picture also made me think of a way to help other blacks women understand. Can you tell me when a black baby starts developing his black skin? I cannot seem to find that information anywhere. I think if the young mothers know, they’ll understand their baby is THEIR CHILD and not just a fetus.
This is such a tough issue. My best friend was born a preemie, he and his twin were less than the weight I was by myself. Me, over 8lbs, the biggest baby in the ward, they were tiny at barely over 4lbs. BTW, if abortion were more accepted at the time, they would’ve been aborted. They are adopted and don’t know their very young unwed mother. Me, it would’ve been likely that I would’ve been a non-entity too if aborition were more available in ‘63 to early ‘64.
However, as repugnant as abortion is as I get older (40 now), I won’t advocate an outright law against it. I’m a “brain activity present” person though it’s a nasty compromise. But I wish there were some way to make it rare. Maybe I’ll have to answer for this position when I face G-d one day. I have no idea what I’ll say.
La Shawn, I loved the post although the information within made me “madder than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest”. I cannot believe that any minister would actually support abortion, although I am not too surprised at it.
I used to be quite liberal and pro-choice. I started to turn on this issue about 1 1/2 years ago (on the ‘I have the right to control my own body’ grounds) when I heard conservatives laughing about Clinton’s ’safe, legal, rare.’ bit.
They wanted to know, why ‘rare?’ If there’s nothing wrong with abortion, why ‘rare?’ The first response a liberal has to that question is, well, abortion is not good. We feel that abortion is not a good thing, but it is necessary sometimes.
Why is it not good? What’s wrong with it?
The answer, the ONLY answer of course, is that a living being is killed in the process. The standard Planned Parenthood euphemisms are supposed to keep us from confronting that fact.
I never heard those quotes from Margaret Sanger before. I am astonished. Do you have a source for them so that I can back it up when I use this material? Thank you.
Mary - I’ve added a link under “Update.”
Nikki, I can’t vouch for all black babies but as a nurse I have seen very light skinned babies who had very dark skinned parents. The only visual difference between these babies and those of white parents might be very curly, silky hair. I think black moms can tell you more because my experience working in a nursery is many years ago.
A fetus aborted in the early terms of pregnancy has no skin color. The skin is still very thin and lacks a fatty underlayer so it looks blue form the blood vessels clearly apparent.
Thank you, La Shawn
Thank you, Ms. Barber. A very well written, well reasoned article, the more so because it echoes my feelings. Yes, I’m male, and I think abortion is wrong, no ifs, ands or buts about it. My wife and I have been taking care of critically ill infants for years now, and it’s amazing how a little love and care will turn a sick baby around to a healthy child. We’ve also adopted three boys (all born sick, but you wouldn’t know it now) and are now adopting a little girl with a list of medical problems as long as your arm. However, the wife and I know that with God’s help, we will be able to help her and hopefully she’ll grow up to be a productive person one day. Of course, she’s cute as a button, so that helps! (Yes, I know, Daddy’s little girl. What can I say?)
Keep up the good work, Ms. Barber. You are definitely going to my “must read daily” list. God bless you.
Mary/La Shawn, another source with an extensive list of Sanger/Planned Parenthood quotes and scanned images of actual newsletters/pamphlets from her days can be found at klannedparenthood.com
As for the gruesomeness of these “surgical procedures, check out abortionno.org — note, brace yourself if you’re the queasy type. Some of the images are absolutely seared, seared in my mind now (no pun intended).
I think, short of an outright ban–highly unlikely in this day & age, there ought to be a law that before anyone gets an abortion, they must be required to watch a 1-hour video presentation. If they still want to go ahead, so be it, but at least the outcome will be to make abortions rare.
Likewise, if sex-ed is to remain part of the curriculm, kids must also watch the videos, begining at 5th or 6th grade. I know it sounds harsh, but if we can sear those images into their young/impressionable minds before they become sexually active, it will also cause them to think long and hard about their actions and the consequences thereof. This will go far to undermine the “free sex” meme and the peer pressure of “giving it up”.
Before you were conceived I wanted you
Before you were born I loved you
Before you were here an hour I would die for you
This is the miracle of life.
-Maureen Hawkins
I love the article!! My sixteen year old daughter is pregnant. She is due Nov. 17th. She is giving the baby up for adoption. Her boyfriend (the father) wanted her to have an abortion. Because she would have to have mine and her father’s permission they couldn’t do it. For I know when life starts. Her boyfriend was trying to convince me that it wasn’t life. I wish they could start showing in school what it is really like to have an abortion. It appalls me that a minister of ANY color would choose to ignore the Bible and its teaching. And what about the very thing planned parenthood and its founders stand for, as a pastor of any christian church to condone this awful institution is blasphemy!
Melinda Burns
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