Black Women Voters Mount Campaign on Reproductive Freedom As Ballot Issue To Protect Abortion
(TSN): The end of Roe V. Wade has placed Black women at the center of the culture war on reproductive freedom.
According to a new poll from health policy research firm KFF, a quarter of Black women voters say abortion their top issue in this year's presidential election,.
A Black women-led reproductive justice organization In Our Own Voice has launched the I Am A Reproductive Justice Voter campaign.
Their mission as stated on www.blackrj.org is to "engage Black voters in 12 states and mobilize turnout in support of policies that promote Reproductive Justice issues" and to draw more Black voters to the polls.
Organizers of the In Our Own Voices did not claim to speak for all Black voters but the voices of those who want to preserve their rights to abort is growing louder than Black voters who oppose it in mainstream media.
Has the Black community, faith based voters in particular, turned a blind eye to potential parallels to Black birth rates and survival? Statistics show Black women get abortions at the highest rates compared to women of other races, due to high rates of unintended pregnancy. The potential impact of abortions on Black population growth is often lost in efforts to raise awareness about reproductive justice.
Current U.S. Census data indicates !African Americans are 13.6 % of the U.S. population, which dropped below Hispanics to become the third most populated racial group in the U.S., at 19.1 %.
Cherilyn Holloway of the Christian organization Pro Black Pro Life supports a theological “whole-life” perspective. Holloway say, “The dominant culture has tried to force Black Christians into a pro-life, pro-choice paradigm.” For more on the Black Christian point-of-view on abortion visit www.problackprolife.com
Meanwhile, pop-star Olivia Rodrigo handed out the morning after pill and comes at her St. Lous, MO show.
Last month, in conjunction with her world tour, Rodrigo launched the Fund 4 Good campaign, to protect women’s and girls’ reproductive rights and is
Donating portion of sales from the tour toward the fund.
High school seniors are beginning to receive decision from college admissions office. Thanks to a generous donor student heading to med school at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in the Bronx, tuition could be free. Ruth Gottesman, a former professor and the widow of a Wall Street investor, $1 billion to the school. The gift means that four-year students immediately get a free ride.
Dollar Tree, the parent company of Family Dollar stores plans to close nearly 1000 stores nationwide after posting unexpected losses due to low sales. About 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of this year and 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Tree stores over the next several years will be shuttered. Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar for more than $8 billion in 2015 after Dollar General stores closed.