Editor's note: Sylvia B. Johnson-Matthews is the Executive Director of Houston Pregnancy Help Centers. The following is an open letter from Johnson-Matthews to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) regarding the NAACP's Oct. 28 letter to all of the professional sports players' associations in the U.S. urging professional athletes in free agency to avoid Texas in part due to abortion law in the state. The Texas Heartbeat Act went into effect Sept. 1, banning most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, and on Sept. 17 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill into law prohibiting doctors or health care providers from giving women an “abortion inducing drug” after seven weeks of pregnancy. The NAACP letter reads in part: As we watch an incomprehensible assault on basic human rights unfold in Texas, we are simultaneously witnessing a threat to constitutional guarantees for women, children and marginalized communities. Over the past few months, legislators in Texas have passed archaic policies, disguised as laws, that directly violate privacy rights and a woman’s freedom to choose …" Pregnancy Help News thanks Johnson-Matthews for the opportunity to publish her letter.
I was extremely disappointed to read your recent letter to the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and WNBA. As a black, Texan woman - and previous NAACP member - I vehemently disagree with your conclusions.
I joined the NAACP 51 years ago, at the age of 11. I proudly became the youngest member of the Orlando, Florida chapter, led by Mr. Willie Bruton Sr., because I knew that the NAACP protected black lives.
Today, the NAACP is a mouthpiece for the largest killer of Black lives in the U.S., the abortion industry.
Abortion clinics target inner-city black communities at especially at alarming rates. They prey on the existing poverty, taking advantage of vulnerable women (especially black women), all for immense profit. These athletes – especially black athletes – have an opportunity to stand up for these women - by not perpetuating the evils of abortion.
To tell a woman her only path to success is to kill her children is a disgrace. It is cowardice. It is an easy out for those who should be standing around her, supporting her and her child. It is not an easy out for the woman who must then live with that trauma for the rest of her life.
Tweet This: To tell a woman her only path to success is to kill her children is a disgrace. It is cowardice.
[Click here to subscribe to Pregnancy Help News!]
You say, “[p]rofessional athletes serve as some of our country's greatest role models…” I happen to agree, and I find it inexcusable that they are not being encouraged to stand up for women and children and families.
That is what we do at Houston Pregnancy Help Centers, and what is done at countless pregnancy centers across the nation. We don’t buy into the lie that abortion is freedom. We see abortion for what it is – murder, trauma, and a sign of a deeply broken culture.
We rally around women and families. We offer ultrasounds, baby and childhood supplies, counseling, classes, and myriad other supportive services for years. We are in the trenches, ensuring families can succeed. We equip mothers, fathers, and families to choose life, so that communities might thrive.
And this is done at 225 free pregnancy centers and 27 maternity homes in Texas, and countless others across the nation.
My heart breaks when I think of the hundreds of thousands of little black boys and girls missing from our communities here in Houston. Our black communities are being lied to and exploited, and the result is increased suffering, continued poverty, deeper trauma, and incomplete communities.
You should be ashamed. The science is clear – abortion is murder.
On behalf of vulnerable women and families everywhere, particularly those in our black communities here in Houston, I hope this can be a wakeup call. I hope you will reach out to learn what we do. To learn how abortion actually works, and the long-term consequences it frequently has on women. To learn how you can help turn the tide on this great evil, instead of perpetuating it.
Please… Stand up for women, children, and families. Stand up for black communities. Stand against the profit-hungry abortion machine. Stand for LIFE.
