Roe v. Wade — the U.S. Supreme Court decision that decriminalized abortion and sparked America's unending second Civil War — hit the big 4-0 this week.
At the decision's midlife, it's the United States that faces a soul-searching crisis.
Estimates put the number of Americans robbed of their birthright during those past four decades at nearly 55 million. Precious babies. Incalculable lost potential. I gently weep for them all.
Amid it all, however, there's a silent epidemic nestled within this shameful milestone.
Every year, some 7,000 blacks are murdered on the streets (often done in by other blacks). Occasionally, one hears a whispered SOS.
Every day, meanwhile, nearly 1,000 unborn black babies are terminated in an abortionist's shop. About that, hardly a peep.
It's no wonder that some anti-abortion groups such as Life Always have posted billboards around the nation declaring, "The most dangerous place for an African American" isn't the streets of Chicago, Detroit or Philadelphia, but "is the womb."
Lacks subtlety, I'll grant you. Indeed, to put a fine point on their argument, these groups traffic in visceral words such as "black genocide" to describe the disproportionally high number of abortions among black women. Of course, their inflammatory verbiage almost immediately shuts down discussion. Counterproductive. Especially when the mind-blowing numbers speak for themselves.
Black women are about 12 percent of the population, yet account for more than 30 percent of abortions in the U.S. Put another way, an African-American woman is four times more likely than a white woman to choose abortion.
I'm not here to judge any woman who has made this choice. That's above my pay grade.
But thank goodness for abortion advocates who provide contextual spin on the disparity. It's simply a numbers game, they say. Black women are three times more likely to have unintended pregnancies than white women.
Thus, there's a greater likelihood black women will have abortions. And because poor women seek 42 percent of abortions — and blacks accounted for nearly 25 percent of those below the poverty line in 2009 — this also ups the tally.
And never fear: Blacks aren't really thinning the stock. Black and white women are reproducing at equivalent rates. Well, in that case, everything's just jim-dandy. Still, somehow the statistical defense seems to be that there's plenty more where those came from.
Indeed, 40 years later, 70 percent of Americans in a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll support the Supreme Court's ruling.
Like it or not, legal abortion, for now, is here to stay.
Abortion foes must do a better job of getting the word out that allies such as Orlando's BETA Center exist to buoy women who choose to parent or allow would-be parents an adopted blessing.
Also, more must be done to blunt the all-too-true reality that black children who land in foster care often languish waiting for adoption. One-third of foster kids awaiting adoption are black, yet black kids make up only about 14 percent of the nation's youth.
Evangelical groups such as the Southern Baptist Convention have pushed adoption in recent years. A noble ministry. Now, they must go further and stand up for transracial adoption. A recent study found nonblack babies are seven times more preferred by would-be adoptive parents.
If God-fearing folks are serious about curbing abortion, this must change.
So must the silence of black churches. Long the hub of civil-rights activity, the churches must act; it's time to speak out. Groups such as the NAACP must take a leadership role, pushing sexual responsibility on the front end, and, failing that, parenthood and adoption the back end.
Fifty-five million. And counting ... toward the next milestone.
deowens@tribune.com or 407-420-5095
