"All the Black pro-life women from both political parties would make an exceedingly long list — and the truth is that the pro-abortion media makes little effort to highlight them."
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Michael Harriot, commentator for The Root, recently claimed that being a Black pro-life woman and seeking the protection of innocent Black babies in the womb is “rare.” But is it?
Harriott was writing in response to an interaction between Rep. Steve Cohen (D – Tenn.) and Star Parker, a pro-life Black woman, in which Cohen called Parker “ignorant” after she pointed out the devastation that abortion has wrought in the Black community.
Dem Congressman calls Black women Star Parker “ignorant”
Watch the interaction below:
Star Parker, founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and a community activist, was asked to testify before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
Hold up, I think I made a mistake in that previous paragraph. What I meant to type was: Star Parker was asked to testify before the House subcommittee because she is one of the rare black female Republican anti-abortion-rights activists. (No, I will not use the GOP marketing phrase “pro-life.” Who’s not for people living?)
Harriot then echoed Rep. Cohen’s derogatory remarks, saying, “People were shocked to hear him go after a black woman publicly like this, but here is the thing: She is kinda ignorant, though.” (Side note: Imagine for one moment what would happen if Parker were pro-choice and… oh, I don’t know… a white Republican male had called her “ignorant.” Media and social media — and likely Harriot himself — would explode with outrage.)
But Harriot’s claim about the rarity of pro-life Black females is simply wrong. The following Black pro-life women (in both the past and the present) are worth noting (and they weren’t all Republicans, Mr. Harriot):
1) Dr. Mildred Jefferson was the first Black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School and was co-founder of the National Right to Life Committee. She once stated:
I became a physician in order to help save lives. I am at once a physician, a citizen, and a woman, and I am not willing to stand aside and allow the concept of expendable human lives to turn this great land of ours into just another exclusive reservation where only the perfect, the privileged, and the planned have the right to live.
