The ProLife Team Podcast 100 | Alveda King & Jacob Barr | Talking about Racism and Abortion

Listen to Jacob Barr's interview with Alveda King. Alveda answers 20 questions on abortion and racism that are designed to collect content for a virtual museum exhibit on the history of abortion.Show more

Alveda answers the following questions on Abortion and Race:

1. Who are you? What’s your background? And what led you to the subject of abortion?

2. Are minorities in America mostly pro-choice? Pro-life? Undecided? Other?

3. Race and racism are politically charged ideas that candidates often use to drum-up votes, motivate their base, and demonize political opponents. When race is combined with the topic of abortion, candidates can swing a lot of votes in their favor by saying the “right” thing about race and abortion. In your view, how can black voters avoid being taken for granted and stay principled enough to navigate through the rhetoric and manipulation?

4. Some claim that black people, and pregnant black women in particular, typically receive unequal medical care. So, pregnancy poses a higher risk for black women compared to other women. Is this true? And if so, would it help justify abortion-choice policy?

5. President Joe Biden, on the campaign trail said, “if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for [Joe Biden] or [Donald] Trump, then you ain’t black.” Now Biden was the Democrat presidential candidate at the time, and a committed pro-choicer at the time. What do you think of this quote? Is it just poorly worded? A bad joke? Or perhaps it’s perpetuating the idea that black people feel a sense of duty to support pro-choice/democrat candidates?

6. People have argued that abortion-choice policy helps minorities achieve equality and overcome historic obstacles facing the black community. How is that supposed to work? Do you agree or disagree with that logic?

7. What is eugenics and is abortion-choice policy aligned with eugenics?

8. Who is Margaret Sanger and what is the “Negro Project”?

9. Abortion is sometimes compared to slavery, is this a fair/valid comparison? Explain.

10. Is race-based abortion legal in the United States? Explain.

11. Is abortion more common among minorities? Explain.

12. Has abortion-choice policy been overall more helpful or harmful for black people? Black families?

13. Some people argue that unequal outcomes prove that a policy/practice is “institutionally racist”. In other words, if a policy hurts or helps one race/ethnicity more than others, then that policy is racist. Along this train of thought, is abortion-choice policy an example of institutional racism?

14. Some people call abortion in America a “black genocide”. Is this overstating/misrepresenting the case?

15. Was Martin Luther King Jr. prolife, prochoice, or something else?

16. Some people argue that abortion-choice helps reduce inequalities for underprivileged people. Does abortion reduce poverty/inequality/injustice?

17. Abortion-clinics predominate in black/ minority communities. What does this say about the abortion industry?

18. Some people claim that the biggest problem black families face is absent fathers. Others say that’s a myth, or that the bigger underlying problem is corruption/racism in the justice system. More specifically, the justice system is targeting black men to pull them away from their families and put them in jail effectively creating the “the New Jim Crow.” Who’s telling the truth here and how does this impact abortion-rates in black homes?

19. Black Lives Matter (BLM) has raised mixed feelings among black people in America. We can all grant that racism still exists, and there is plenty of work still to be done to heal racial animosity, to hold authorities accountable (police, courts, etc.), and to address other race-based problems in America. Nevertheless, BLM has also aligned with certain progressive and left-wing political causes including abortion-choice policy and “dismantling the western nuclear family.” What exactly is BLM and what are your thoughts on BLM in relation to family and abortion policy?

20. In your opinion, what’s the biggest misconception that minorities tend to believe about abortion?