Misleading: Planned Parenthood, Race, and Abortions

Misbar’s investigation found that statistics do hold up the claim that black women have a disproportionate amount of abortions. But is this genocide? Is this a deliberate killing of a particular race?

For that to be true, Planned Parenthood would still have to embrace its racist past. In its July 24, 2020, statement, Planned Parenthood made it very clear that it does not. In fact, it denounced its founder’s eugenic beliefs, calling them “repugnant’ and “directly counter to our organization’s current mission.”

So what does explain the high abortion rates in the black community? The answer is likely complex, but a commentary on BET’s website pointed out that black teenagers have higher pregnancy rates than their white counterparts — and would benefit most from better education about birth control.

The Wall Street Journal also weighed in in the debate, opining that high rates of abortion among black women and girls may be attributed to increasing socioeconomic levels, which translates into a tendency to be pro-choice.

Because of these factors, Planned Parenthood’s rejection of its eugenicist past, and correlation not meaning causation, we rate this claim as misleading.