Taya Flores

Journal & Courier

On Tuesday, fliers stating "Black children are an endangered race. Hands up don't abort," were hung on poles along Third Street on Purdue University's campus.

Chalk messages such as "Womb = most dangerous place 4 black kids, #blacklivesmatter" were written on the sidewalk outside the Black Cultural Center.

Anti-abortion group Purdue Students for Life marked the campus Monday night as part of an awareness campaign.

The group not only drew criticism on social media but has brought a heated national debate about black abortions to campus.

Critics say the messaging unfairly shames black women for exercising reproductive rights, but proponents argue they are raising awareness about an important health disparity.

Kevin Lasher, a civil engineering junior and president of Purdue Students for Life, said the "goal of doing this is really to bring to light ... how specifically the African-American community, minorities in general, are being targeted by Planned Parenthood and being exploited in the name of empowering women."

The student group took inspiration from Ryan Bomberger, an African-American author and co-founder of the Radiance Foundation, an Ashburn, Virginia-based nonprofit aimed at furthering the pro-life mission of Bomberger and his wife, Bethany.

He spoke at Purdue last October as the guest speaker for Tippecanoe County Right to Life.

Ryan Bomberger has drawn fire from pro-choice advocates due to the Radiance Foundation's TooManyAborted.com billboard and Web campaigns, which use provocative ads and messaging, such as calling black babies an "endangered species," to address the disproportionate impact of abortions in the black community.

White and black women account for similar percentages of the procedures nationwide (37.6 percent and 36.7 percent, respectively) in 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Yet black women of childbearing age, 15 to 44 years old, account for only 3 percent of the U.S. population, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. White women of the same cohort represent 14 percent.

Although members of Purdue Students for Life created their own fliers, they included Bomberger's TooManyAborted.com website as a point of reference.

Some students said the writings and fliers were racist and sexist.

Afton Goins, an African-American senior, labeled the messaging "racist misogyny" because it targets black women who often are in need of abortion services.

“It’s very likely for a black woman who happens to get pregnant to be in a situation where she would want to have an abortion, being that she is in a bad financial situation or a victim of sexual assault or does not have the current resources to provide for a child,” she said.

Bomberger denied that the group's messages were racist or sexist.

"The abortion industry is targeting black women ..." Bomberger said. "That’s where the anger and frustration should be pointed toward."

Goins said she also found it offensive that the group used #blacklivesmatter language, which focuses on police brutality, to "shame" black women out of having abortions.

"It’s using the black lives matter movement almost as a weapon to shame women who do want abortions or the right to access contraceptive services," she said.

Lasher said the group wanted only to create awareness.

"We’re on their side," he said. "We are looking to protect the lives of unborn African-Americans and unborn women. I don’t think it’s being racist or sexist at all. It's looking out for the most vulnerable among us."