Is there something wrong with this picture — nearly 40% of all abortions in America since Roe vs. Wade have been from Black Americans? This equates to more than 20 million Black pregnancies aborted. That would be the equivalent to either the populations of New York or Florida. Yet, Black people make up just 14% of the U.S. White people account for 35% of all abortions as the majority population in the country.

Is it because Black people have suffered more cases of incest, rape, or mothers in need to abort due to the threat of death? I think not.

So why is this happening? Is it a silent genocide within America? After all abortions would amount to a 50% reduction of the Black population. Today, there are 46 million Black Americans.

I supported the so-called pro-choice position while in Congress. These are votes I regret today and pray for God’s forgiveness on so many levels.

I am not declaring Planned Parenthood during the early part of the 20th century a racist organization, and definitely not today. But you can judge for yourself based on the content of this column.

Planned Parenthood has appointed about half of its presidents from minority communities. In its early days, it succeeded in enlisting the support of many if not most of the Black leaders during that period. Today every member of the Congressional Black Caucus supports Planned Parenthood. So how could it be racist? One could argue.

But digging deeper into the research one discovers that its founder, Margaret Sanger, wrote about the “Negro Project” or “Problem” in terms akin to believers of eugenics.

There are two sides to every coin. One side talks about Black infant mortality rates and the death rate of Black mothers during childbirth. Their mantra: health care. Yet the other side has mounting abortions of Black pregnancies.

Former President Richard Nixon was the first to authorize federal funds to Planned Parenthood in 1970 as an extension of the Public Health Service Act Title X. His administration provided funding for family planning and services including contraception, which had bipartisan support in Congress. “No American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition,” Nixon said.

Noble. I concurred when I was in Congress.

The line is drawn on abortions, however. Some of Planned Parenthood largest contributors refuse to support any of their funds going toward abortions. More should follow. Thanks to the Hyde Amendment, Congress denies nearly half billion dollars a year from doing the same. Yet Planned Parenthood is the leading provider of abortion services. This is unfortunate.

Somehow, the organization has cleverly added cancer screening to its list of services. And what does that have to do with its original mission of family planning? But like baseball and apple pie, how can you oppose it? Smart.

Had I learned of Ms. Sanger’s own words when I was an elected official, I would have never allowed myself to be associated with any group she led. Here she is in her own words: “Birth control itself, often denounced as a violation of natural law, is nothing more or less that the facilitation of the process of weeding out the unfit of preventing the birth of defective or of those who will become defectives.”

In 1932 she wrote about the “Negro problem” in America. In a letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble she wrote, “We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population.” She feared the perception that her efforts could be interpreted as being harmful to a certain part of the Black community. She referenced working through Black leaders to accomplish her birth control mission, especially Black ministers. She also believed in segregating “defective” people.

I implore the U.S. Supreme Court to do everything in its power to stop the madness. Socioeconomic reasons should not be justification to abort a pregnancy in America. We, as a society, are better than that.

Planned Parenthood leaders are as skillful with their onerous and subtle tactics as the tobacco industry was back in the day. Big Tobacco used the vast majority of its billboard advertisements to target the Black community, knowing full well that its product was harmful to one’s health. The proliferation of liquor stores and illegal drugs also seem to find their way disproportionately into the Black community. And what is not found in many Black communities are groceries stores selling fresh fruit and vegetables.

Oh, and where are most of the Planned Parenthood facilities? You guessed it — in the Black community.

There are so many reasons to seriously overhaul this organization.

Gary Franks served three terms as U.S. representative for Connecticut’s 5th District. He was the first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years and New England’s first Black member of the House. Host: podcast “We Speak Frankly.” Author: “With God, For God, and For Country.” @GaryFranks

Newsletter