In NYC, 41% Don’t Make it Out Alive

Earlier this year, the New York City Department of Health released their 2009 Vital Statistics. While the 2009 abortion rate was slightly lower than in 2008, it remained twice the national average. There were 126,774 births and 87,273 abortions. Not counting miscarriages, 41% of pregnancies in NYC end in abortion. In the Bronx, 48% of pregnancies end in abortion. Among non-Hispanic blacks, the percentage jumps to an even more shocking 60%.

The NYC abortion percentage among Hispanics is 41%. For Asians and Pacific Islanders in NYC, 23% of pregnancies end in abortion. Among whites, the NYC abortion percentage is 20%. No matter what you believe about the ethics of abortion, these disparities should alarm anyone with a heart for racial justice and equality.

When a billboard went up in Manhattan some weeks ago to draw attention to the unique threat abortion poses to the African-American community, city officials almost immediately demanded its removal. In an op-ed piece for the New York Times, Clyde Haberman notes that NYC, which "self-congratulatory" considers itself to be "the most tolerant of cities," blatantly "flunked [the censorship] test" in forcing the billboard's removal. Anthony Bradley, in a piece for World magazine notes that most of the evangelicals in NYC are "too missional" to care about abortion. Both editorials are well worth a read.

For our part, Abort73 has a new T-shirt (+ promo cards, flyers, downloads, and web graphics) to highlight the current plight of abortion-vulnerable children in New York City. Like all of the Abort73 shirts, the new design doesn't explicitly mention abortion. Instead, it seeks to pique the viewer's curiosity so as to prompt a question to the shirt wearer or a visit to the website. The new shirts are available as crew-necks or V-necks and are another great way to help introduce your campus or community to Abort73.com.