Across the Atlanta area there are now billboards with the face of a young African-American child and the words “Endangered Species.” A number of pro-life groups joined together to launch the eye-catching campaign, saying the black community has been disproportionately impacted by abortion. They cite figures from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) showing African-American women are three times as likely as white women to abort their pregnancies. Ryan Bomberger, who is adopted, designed the billboards and says he wants to expose Planned Parenthood and its “racist” beginnings based in eugenics. “It’s undeniable, why our present day reality is the way it is when you understand the history of Planned Parenthood,” Bomberger says.
Catherine Davis, of Georgia Right to Life, says the billboards have been effective, pushing the African-American community to have an important conversation about abortion. However, others say they are infuriated by the “offensive” billboards including Paris Hatcher of SPARK Reproductive Justice Now. Hatcher says there are several of the billboards in her neighborhood, and she doesn’t think she’s the only one who finds them disturbing. “Most Atlantans have been incredibly put off,” Hatcher says, “this language and approach is not the way we should be having this conversation.” Hatcher believes the campaign shames black women and demeans African-American children by equating them to “animals.” But, Davis points the finger back at groups like Planned Parenthood and says they are the ones who have devastated the black community with their “eugenics-based motivation.”