Pro-Life Billboard Stirs Up Controversy In SoHo
via www.ny1.com
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Pro-Life Billboard Stirs Up Controversy In SoHo
By: Tetiana Anderson
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A pro-life group from Texas known as "Life Always" launched a national campaign with a giant billboard at Sixth Avenue and Watts Street.
It reads, "The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb."
The group says Planned Parenthood is purposely targeting the black community, leading to shockingly high abortion rates in the community.
"We believe that with more information our community can make the right choice in pushing back on the unfettered access that Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry has on our community," said "Life Always" Founding Member/Pastor Stephen Broden.
Broden, along with some community activists, say Planned Parenthood is targeting the black community, leading to abortion rates among blacks that are staggeringly high compared to other races.
City health department figures show 61 percent of all pregnancies among black women in the five boroughs end in abortion.
"When I look at the percentage of death by abortion in the black community, 13 percent of the population, 36 percent of the abortion rate nationwide...that causes me to be ill," said Reverend Michael Faulkner of the New Horizon Church.
The ad campaign is set to be rolled out in a number of other cities across the country.
In a statement, Planned Parenthood called the ad, "an offensive and condescending effort to stigmatize and shame African-American women while attempting to discredit the work of Planned Parenthood."
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn says the billboard is offensive to women of color. Some people who walked by the SoHo billboard Wednesday seemed to agree.
"The image that is portraying, got a child there with abortion just rocks my socks, I don't like it at all," said one New Yorker.
"It's a slap in the face at this point and in the middle of so-called Black History Month," said another.
"I think the content of it is pretty nasty and demeaning. On the other hand it's freedom of speech," said a third.
The SoHo ad is scheduled to remain up for three weeks.
