Pro-Abortion Congressional Black Caucus Weighs Formal Condemnation of Pro-Life Rep. Sean Duffy

The liberal, pro-abortion Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is considering a formal condemnation of pro-life Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) for relating that black communities are targeted for abortions businesses like Planned Parenthood – whose founder was eugenicist Margaret Sanger.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), CBC chairman, said his group is planning to discuss its options in the coming weeks, reports Politico. The formal condemnation of Duffy is being pushed by Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) – who responded to Duffy’s remarks on the House floor. Butterfield reportedly referred to Duffy’s comments as “disgusting.”

During his remarks on the House floor, Duffy said, “I hear a lot in this institution from minority leaders about how their communities are targeted, but what I don’t hear them talk about is how their communities are targeted in abortion.”

“My liberal friends, Congressional Black Caucus members, talk about fighting for the defenseless, the hopeless, and the downtrodden,” he added. “There is no one more hopeless and voiceless than an unborn baby, but their silence is deafening. I can’t hear them. Where are they standing up for their communities, advocating and fighting for their right to life?”

In response to Duffy, Moore shot back:

Over the years I’ve heard some absurd comments from my Republican colleagues about abortion…After nearly 30 years in public office, nothing really surprises me anymore, Mr. Speaker. So you can imagine my lack of astonishment when my friend and colleague from Wisconsin, Sean Duffy, rolled out abortion statistics among African American women to lecture black legislators, like me, about defending the welfare of our constituents.

I wouldn’t expect Rep. Duffy to understand why his comments are offensive. What he and so many of his Republican colleagues fail to acknowledge is the underlying context behind high abortion rates in African American communities. High rates of abortion are related to poverty, lack of access to quality care. The war on women’s health centers resulted in multiple barriers to accessing quality, affordable health care…leading to unintended pregnancy and abortions. Rep. Duffy’s hypocrisy on this issue is predictable as it is offensive. If he truly, truly wants to fight for the hopeless and voiceless, he should join us…

Ironically, President Barack Obama vetoed the recent bill that would have eliminated Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding and redirected it to other health care centers that perform higher level health services without abortion.

“Rep. Gwen Moore has met my Latina wife and our seven children. She knows that she and I share a passion for helping minority communities access the American Dream,” Duffy told The Blaze. “It’s worth noting that Rep. Moore did not refute the harrowing statistics – more African-American abortions than live births in NYC – because they are irrefutable.”

“My remarks were not an attack on her or any of my colleagues,” Duffy continued. “Rather, they were an invitation to work together to defend poor, minority women against a powerful industry that targets them and preys on their vulnerability. Together, we can do more to offer African-American women and their children hope and non-violent solutions to difficult or unplanned pregnancies.”

Members of the national pro-life community came to Duffy’s defense.

“The disproportionately high numbers of abortions and abortion clinics in minority communities clearly support Rep. Duffy’s statement that abortionists target black communities,” said Lila Rose, president of Live Action, a pro-life organization that conducted undercover video investigations exposing Planned Parenthood’s willingness to accept donations specifically given to abort black children.

“To this day, Planned Parenthood continues to celebrate its founder, Margaret Sanger, who talked about the need to ‘exterminate the Negro population,’” she continued. “Rather than shoot the messenger, the Congressional Black Caucus should welcome Rep. Duffy as an ally in helping to stop this travesty against African American children and all children.”

Rose added the attacks against Duffy have been encouraged by CBC members who themselves have received over $400,000 in campaign contributions from the abortion lobby.

“It’s extremely tragic that some members of Congress who claim to speak for the human rights of black people are against the right to life for preborn black children and are trying to silence voices that expose the catastrophic consequences abortion has on the black community,” she said.

Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, and Dr. Alveda King, director of African-American outreach, issued a joint statement in support of Duffy: “We commend Congressman Sean Duffy for pointing out the obvious, namely, that far too many African-American leaders are ignoring the devastating impact abortion is having on black lives. Death by forceps or bullets is death all the same.”

“The silence of the Congressional Black Caucus in defending unborn African-American lives truly is disturbing. How many deaths will it take for its members to defend our community – the human community, born and unborn?” Pavone and King asked. “Congressman Duffy spoke the truth in love. If members of the Congressional Black Caucus or any other persons are offended by the truth, they need to examine themselves, not criticize the messenger.”

At Townhall, pro-life leader Ryan Bomberger – creator of The Radiance Foundation – wrote, “Somehow, the industry that kills, disproportionately, black human beings for a profit isn’t racist. It’s ‘reproductive justice!’”

He continued:

The CBC, like every other black-led liberal “civil rights” group, is pro-abortion. The NAACP recently just lost a major free speech lawsuit, trying to sue The Radiance Foundation because we called them the “National Association for the Abortion of Colored People”. These groups actively partner with the nation’s largest abortion and aborted baby parts trafficking chain, Planned Parenthood. Last fall, the CBC sponsored a forum featuring the abortion giant. Keep in mind, abortion occurs up to 5 times more in the black community. In NYC, as Rep. Duffy alluded to, more black babies are aborted than born alive. For every 1,000 born alive, there are 1,180 are aborted. Where are all the cries that #BlackLivesMatter? Where are all the protests? Where are all the die-ins?

“There are none,” Bomberger said. “Because liberals don’t believe that all black lives matter. And the Congressional Black Caucus leads this hypocrisy.”