A U.S. Democratic senator’s recent comments about blacks and abortions in Washington, D.C., have angered some conservatives who called the remarks racially insensitive, but drew shrugs from local supporters.
“It is a fact that a disproportionately large number of African-Americans seek abortion in America, not just in the District of Columbia, but all across the nation,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. He added that “it’s also a fact that a disproportionately large number of African-Americans live in the District of Columbia.”
Durbin made the remarks during a recent committee meeting discussing the District’s awaited fiscal 2010 budget. He used the statements to argue on behalf of a budget bill that would allow D.C. lawmakers to decide whether city tax dollars can be used to help pay for abortions. Since 1996, Congress has made that decision on D.C.’s behalf.
Durbin made the remarks during a recent committee meeting discussing the District’s awaited fiscal 2010 budget. He used the statements to argue on behalf of a budget bill that would allow D.C. lawmakers to decide whether city tax dollars can be used to help pay for abortions. Since 1996, Congress has made that decision on D.C.’s behalf.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., challenged Durbin with figures showing D.C. has a higher abortion rate — 41 percent of all pregnancies — than any state in the union. According to the most recent census figures, the city is about 55 percent African-American.
“Aren’t there enough [abortions] here?” Brownback asked.
Several prominent blacks agreed, and said that Durbin’s reference to race smacked of racial population control.
“It’s one of the most racially insensitive things I’ve heard in a long time,” said Bishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor at Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md.
“It makes me wonder if he would be more concerned if it were white or Hispanic babies being terminated,” Jackson said.
Alveda King, director of African-American outreach for the anti-abortion organization Priests for Life, said that blacks “are victims of abortion.”
“We are targeted for abortions — we are told that abortions are therapeutic if you’re pregnant and not ready for a child,” said King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr. “Abortion is racist, it’s genocide.”
But Vincent Gray, chairman of the D.C. Council, called Durbin “a friend of the District” and praised his efforts to put decisions affecting the city in the hands of city lawmakers.
“I do know the District of Columbia should have the right to spend its own taxpayer-raised funds on abortions, which are a fact of life for women of all races,” Gray said.
