Pro-Life Billboards Placed in African American Neighborhoods
Ohio Right to Life Raises Awareness on Racial Aspect of Abortion
CLEVELAND, Ohio–Recently, Ohio Right to Life launched an educational billboard campaign in Cleveland’s low-income, African American neighborhoods. One design provides statistics on the disproportionate number of abortions performed on African Americans, and the other design promotes father involvement. These billboards are part of Ohio Right to Life’s concentrated urban outreach, which has involved building a new webpage, school presentations, and literature distribution over the last several months.
“African Americans experience a shockingly disproportionate number of abortions,” said Katherine McCann, public relations manager at Ohio Right to Life. “We constantly hear about the racial disparities in infant mortality, gun violence and voting. Our goals with this campaign are to spread awareness about the racial crisis of abortion, and most importantly, to save lives in Cleveland, Ohio’s abortion capital.”
The most recent Ohio Abortion Report, produced by the Ohio Department of Health, shows that 42 percent of abortions took place on African American women in 2012, a 5.6 percent increase from 2011. Abortions decreased among white women. The report also shows that 83 percent of abortions were performed on women who were never married, divorced, or widowed.
“We want to see abortion end for every race,” said McCann. “By increasing awareness and encouraging a familial support system, we hope to engender a culture of life for mother, father, and child alike.”
To learn more about abortion in the African American community, click here.
To view the 2012 Ohio Abortion Report, click here.
Founded in 1967, Ohio Right to Life, with more than 45 local chapters, is Ohio’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement in Ohio, ORTL works through legislation and education to promote and defend innocent human life from conception to natural death.