As Louisiana moves forward following the overturning of Roe v Wade, much work still must be done to increase awareness of the value of unborn life and to support mothers with unplanned pregnancies. This is particularly seen in the African American community, which has the highest rate of abortions.
On Oct. 9 at the Goodwood Library in Baton Rouge, Tara Wicker, director of Louisiana Black Advocates for Life, talked to the Baton Rouge Council of Catholic Women about LABAL’s work to “break the silence” on the tragedy of abortions.
LABAL seeks to encourage the meaningful participation of members of the Black community in the process of building and maintaining a culture of life in Louisiana. LABAL aims to reduce the high rate of abortion among Black women through providing empowering education, access to tangible resources and cultivation of community support networks.
Wicker fondly remembered her experiences at Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Baton Rouge, which prepared her for leadership. She served on the Baton Rouge Metro Council and has been a well-known community servant and leader, beginning in her youth.
Through LABAL, she emphasizes that encountering and educating Black women is the way to uphold the dignity of life from conception until natural death.
In 2020 Wicker shared her experiences of going through the experience of abortion as a 16-year-old when she spoke at the 2020 Louisiana Life March South in Baton Rouge. She said the abortion so many years ago propelled her to “be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
She now has six biological children. She and her husband, Michael Wicker, founded Lighthouse Christian Fellowship Center.
Wicker shared the grim statistics concerning abortion in the Black community.
“Many people don’t know, especially in the African American community, that if you take cancer, diabetes, HIV and heart disease and you combine those diseases abortion kills more African Americans than those diseases combined,” Wicker said.
She noted that Planned Parenthood has located in African American communities and has misled people into thinking that abortion is “health care.”
“We very intentionally go out into communities and start sharing this because it relates to abortion,” Wicker said.
Wicker noted that abortion has been the number one killer in the African American population. According to 2020 statistics from the Louisiana Department of Health, one in five babies were killed through abortion. Of the 7,448 abortions performed that year, 65% were performed on Black women.
“A lot of times when people would have cancer, people wouldn’t even say I have cancer,” said Wicker. “It would be whisper, like, you know, they got cancer. And it was never talked about. We never dealt with it to be able to really get to the healing part.”
Wicker said “They (abortion activists) accuse the pro-life movement of being pro-birth but not pro-life, which is in fact not true because the same resources and everything that was available prior to Roe v Wade being overturned is still there.”
She noted that now the argument is, “All you care about is babies being born, but what about them afterwards?”
“And so we are now intentionally making sure our message goes out, ‘Hey, we’re going to highlight these resources and services,’ ” Wicker said.
She noted LABAL will be having baby formula drive Sunday, Oct. 23 at Lighthouse Christian Fellowship, 1564 Nicholson Dr., Baton Rouge. Southern University and LSU athletes will be there and LABAL will give mothers and parents in need formula and diaper wipes. LABAL is seeking donations for this effort.
“We need to make sure these moms and dads who are in need for their children have what they need to know that they’re supported. And they’re not alone as a result of them choosing life,” Wicker said.
In addition to other resources, LABAL is making sure people understand what is involved in an abortion.
“Part of our messaging is changing our terminology and making sure that people understand that the life or death of a baby should not be a choice. The baby is a real human being,” Wicker said.
She added, “It’s so sad because we’re looking at all these young babies that are being murdered. And when a baby has been killed everybody is up in arms about those babies being shot or killed. But we’re so immune to the same thing when it comes to abortion.”
Wicker emphasized as African Americans embrace their values that includes embracing the life of the unborn.
“With African Americans, when you talk about the whole concept of genocide (through abortion) we have not recognized our value,” said Wicker. “It took a whole constitutional law for African Americans to even be considered a full person.
“For us that means we have to talk about the personhood of a baby. And the value of that baby is like if anything else, we should have been the ones that have been out saying no all of our lives are valuable.”
For more information and to support LABAL, visit LABlackAdvocates.com.