Congressman Asks Colleagues to Defend Black Unborn Babies. Then They Hit Back…

Milwaukee, WI, January 8, 2016 | Independent Journal Review

by Kayla Brandon

When a Wisconsin congressman took the House floor last week to talk about abortion, he also brought up another sensitive subject — race.
 
U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R) addressed his ‘liberal friends’ and members of the Congressional Black Caucus to defend the lives of unborn African American babies:
“…talk about fighting for the defenseless, the hopeless, and the downtrodden. There is no one more hopeless and voiceless than an unborn baby, but their silence is deafening. I can’t hear them. Where are they standing up for their communities, advocating and fighting for their right to life?”
As Huffington Post reports, Duffy suggested black communities are “targeted in abortions,” citing statistics from New York City:
“Here are some stunning facts. The African-American community is 15 percent of the country as a whole, but accounts for 40 percent of the abortions. Fifteen percent of Americans, 40 percent of the abortions. In New York City, the most recent statistic is that African-American women had more abortions than live births.”
In the most recent U.S. Census Brief from 2010, 14 percent of the country identifies as African American.
 
According to the most recent Abortion Surveillance report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, non-Hispanic black women did have the highest percentage of abortions after 13 weeks’ gestation, but more women from other ethnic groups aborted babies at less than 8 weeks old.
 
While Duffy’s claims might not have been ‘exact,’ as some of critics have said, they were fairly close. But his co-worker, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D), was upset with his statement.
 
She posted the following message on her Facebook page:
 
 
Her post reads, in part:
“After nearly 30 years in public office, not much surprises me anymore. So you can imagine my lack of astonishment when a conservative member of the Wisconsin Congressional Delegation recently used abortion statistics as a means to lecture Black legislators like myself about defending the welfare of our constituents.”
Rep. Moore continues, calling Duffy a ‘hypocrite.’ She also says that barriers to quality, affordable health care lead to higher rates of abortion and ‘unintended pregnancies’ among African-American women:
“I don’t expect Representative Duffy to understand why his comments were so offensive, nor do I anticipate him apologizing for them. What he and so many of his Republican colleagues fail to understand is the underlying context behind high abortion rates in African American communities. High rates of abortion are related to poverty and lack of access to prevention services.”
Moore recently told POLITICO that Duffy made the abortion debate ‘personal.’
 
Duffy remains firm that he’s trying to unite Republicans with the CBC, despite people accusing him of making ‘racist’ comments:
 
“Black lives matter. They do. And Indian. And Asian. Hispanic and white. All those lives matter. We should fight for all life, including life of the unborn.”
 
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