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Prolife activists say getting more African American ministers to speak out is key. "The clergy and the black leadership in general run from the word abortion," says Barbara Thomas, founder of the inner-city North Baton Rouge Women's Health Center in Louisiana. "They don't want anything to do with it, and it's their parishioners we're seeing. The majority of our clients have never heard their pastor even talk against abortion."

Thomas says that of the 60 to 80 clients she sees each month, 98 percent are African American. In order to help these predominantly low-income women, many of whom are high- school dropouts, the center now focuses on education and vocational training. It also helps with child placement, abstinence education, and pregnancy services. It has a pregnancy health clinic with a nurse practitioner and a sonogram machine. The center also has a child-loss recovery program for women seeking post-abortion counseling.

To encourage fathers, the health center co-sponsors with a local church on the "Man to Man" program, which helps new fathers build stronger relationship with their children. The center plans to renovate a 22,000 square foot warehouse to add typing and computer training to its GED and literacy program. Thomas says while the average age of her clients is 19 or 20, she's seen pregnant girls as young as 11. One 12-year-old girl, Thomas says, was on the verge of having an abortion. She reconsidered and gave birth to twins. Different families later adopted the twins and the girl.

Simpson is exploring using Thomas's center as a model for other crisis pregnancy centers in Philadelphia. "We cannot encourage women to have babies and then continue their dependency on the system," Simpson says. "We can't leave them without the resources to care for their children and then say, 'Praise the Lord, we saved a baby.'"

Hunter says LEARN Chicago plans a Midwest regional conference for April 24-26 to mobilize black opinion leaders. "There are people God has made watchmen, and now's the time for the watchmen to call out," Hunter says. "Abortion has been allowed to creep into the black community, and a lot of black pastors have missed it. They haven't sounded the alarm. No pastor wants to stand before God and say this happened on their watch."

In the March CT, Mark Stricherz will report how early sonograms influence a mother's choice to keep her baby.

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

More articles on abortion are available in Christianity Today'sLife Ethics archive. Recently posted articles include:

CT Classic: Arguments in Favor of Abortion Are Strong … | … if you accept one all-important assumption. (Dec. 20, 2002)

FDA Candidate Irks Abortion Pill Advocates | The Christian Medical Association says critics fear David Hager's "well-grounded" opposition. (Nov. 26, 2002)

Embracing the Unwanted | Chinese American Christians are starting to become more openly prolife. (May 9, 2002)

The site of LEARN's Northeast chapter, Blackgenocide.org, has more information on what LEARN does and the situation in the black community.

Other pro-life organizations include Care Net and The National Right to Life Committee.

Other news article son the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice include:

Religious coalition claims most people of faith support abortion rights—CNS News (June 12, 2002)

Religious coalition lobbies for abortion, gay rights—National Liberty Journal (Sept. 2000)

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February 2003, Vol. 47, No. 2