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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From the desk of Mother Jones CEO, Monika Bauerlein...

Newsrooms can be funded in many ways. One of the most controversial (and volatile) ways is by a for-profit corporation or a billionaire owner. We see it across the headlines on a weekly basis: the claw backs in public media, the gutting of The Washington Post, the bending over backwards to appeal to Trump and his allies.

But not here.

When Mother Jones first started publishing 50 years ago, our founders made a critical decision: to be a reader-supported nonprofit. They knew that no corporate owner would be interested in a muckraking newsroom; they also knew that no muckraking newsroom would be interested in following the agenda of a corporate owner.

And so, we’ve been reader-funded for half a century. We rely on contributions from our readers—readers like you—whether it’s $50, or $15 a month, or whatever fits your budget. People give what they can, and every donation makes a difference for our newsroom, which has grown tremendously—in size and reach and renown—since its inception in 1976.

You may be wondering: What does it take to publish an investigation? And what does my donation actually fund? The answers are one and the same: It takes people, resources, and time. And that’s what your donation funds directly.

Every donation Mother Jones receives from readers fortifies our newsroom, whether we’re covering underreported scandals out of Washington, DC, or the most important news of the day. And right now, each donation will be doubled because of our $50,000 match. So when you make a donation—$5, $50, any amount—it’ll go twice as far.

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