Earlier this week, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced plans to dedicate $23 million in support of black maternal health. In response, Pro-Life Action League executive director Eric Scheidler offers the following comments:
There is indeed a serious reproductive health crisis among black mothers, and I’m glad to see the governor addressing it. However, missing from his plan is any recognition of the epidemic of unwanted abortions that hits particularly hard in the black community. Nearly a quarter of all women who get abortions describe their abortions as “unwanted” or even “coerced” — and since anti-abortion sentiment runs particularly high in the black community, these numbers are likely to be much higher in the community that the governor’s new plan is intended to serve. Pritzker must stop ignoring these women.
