Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Racially-Targeted Billboard Campaign Links African-Americans, Abortion


Racially-Targeted Billboard Campaign Links African-Americans, Abortion: ATLANTA – The message on dozens of billboards across the city is provocative: Black children are an “endangered species.”

The eyebrow-raising ads featuring a young Black child are an effort by the anti-abortion movement to use race to rally support within the Black community. The reaction from Black leaders has been mixed, but the “Too Many Aborted” campaign, which so far is unique to only Georgia, is drawing support from other anti-abortion groups across the country.

...“The language in the billboard is using messages of fear and shame to target women of color,” said Leola Reis, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Georgia. “If we want to reduce the number of abortions and unintended pregnancies, we need to work as a community to make sure we get quality affordable health care services to as many women and men as possible.”