Almost 50 years ago, abortion was made legal across the U.S. after a landmark ruling in the Roe v. Wade case. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, taking away constitutional protections for abortion.
Last Friday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks, and this means putting an end to the constitutional right to an abortion for U.S. women. Individual states can now ban abortion again, per the ruling. About half of the states in the country are likely to introduce new abortion restrictions while 13 have even already passed “trigger laws” that will automatically outlaw abortion following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Following the ruling, experts are concerned about the health of many Black women who could need an abortion. Janette Robinson Flint, the executive director of Black Women for Wellness, spoke with The Seattle Medium.
“…78% of Black women do not approve of the overturn of Roe v. Wade. 85% of Black women will support someone they love who chooses to have an abortion. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, what it does is put women across the middle of the country at risk. They won’t be able to access abortion, and if they have to travel to another state, there is a cost of abortion. And it is unfortunate because every woman, every Black woman, deserves control, autonomy, and self-determination over her own life. It’s a basic human right. You get to say if you want to be pregnant or not.”
A recent study from Duke University says that a ban on abortions could increase Black maternal deaths by 33%, compared to a 21% increase for the overall population.
On the back of this, more Blacks including celebrities are pro-choice and do support organizations like Planned Parenthood but there are still some well-known Black people who are pro-life or against abortion. Here are six of them:
Kimberly Elise
The actress is happy that Roe v. Wade got overturned but her stance has sparked a backlash from social media. The “For Colored Girls” star actress showed how strongly she is against abortion when she wrote the following on Instagram on Tuesday after the Supreme Court decision:
“Millions of babies will be saved from death by abortion due to the overturning of Roe V. Wade. Hallelujah! #allglorybetoGod.”
She has become a trending topic on social media since her post. One user wrote: “Kimberly Elise YOU’RE DONE!!! And since thousands of babies will saved, how about your rich ass come and adopt some of the kids. “It takes a village to raise a child”. You have enough white man’s money to buy a village for these babies.”
Kanye West
The rapper opened up about his views on abortion in 2020. In an interview with Forbes magazine, he disclosed that he was pro-life, saying, “I am pro-life because I’m following the word of the bible,” and accused Planned Parenthood of being operated by “white supremacists doing the devil’s work.”
He further spoke to Nick Cannon on his YouTube podcast about the importance of family.
“Family is just the key to the world, period. From our immediate family to our friends and family, our co-workers and family, our city and family, our state and family, our country and family, our world,” West said.
“The culture of humanity needs to be family. The design of our cities, the design of our schools, there’s a lot of things designed for us to not promote family, they’re designed to create separation.”
Nick Cannon
Last year, Cannon’s father James said that his anti-abortion views were part of the reason his son was expecting his seventh child with a fourth woman. The singer released a controversial music video for Can I Live? in 2005 showing his teen mom running out of a clinic after making a decision not to abort him.
In an interview years later, Cannon said Planned Parenthood is responsible for “real genocide” and engages in population control. The rapper accused Donald Trump of working with Planned Parenthood to force people in the Black community to have abortions. “Think about all the stuff they did with Planned Parenthood and all that type of stuff. That type of stuff is to take our community — and forget gentrification, it’s real genocide, and it’s been like that for years,” he said.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
On Friday when the Supreme Court tossed out Roe v. Wade, Thomas wrote that the high court rulings that established gay rights and contraception rights should also be reconsidered now that the national right to an abortion has been done away with.
Thomas wrote that those rulings “were demonstrably erroneous decisions.”
Benjamin Watson
The former NFL Star celebrated the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24 with the tweet, “ROE is DONE.”
He also wrote that a post-Roe America “provides an opportunity for those who are determined to uphold human dignity from womb to tomb to enter the fray with a message of respect for human dignity and service for human needs.”
Watson produced the DIVIDED HEARTS OF AMERICA documentary, which looks at the abortion issue in the United States.
Jordin Sparks
“American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks is one of many pro-life celebrities who has participated in pro-life events and often speaks out about her Christian faith. In 2013, Jordin made a post on MySpace sharing her view on abortion. She later addressed the post after it sparked backlash, telling the Metro newspaper: “I don’t regret it. Everyone has their own opinion and I’m not going to fight anyone over it.”
