1970- In the 1970’s as a the head of the People United to Save Humanity, (PUSH), a Chicago based Civil Rights group, [Jesse] Jackson acknowledged that he personally abhorred abortion because he felt that only the intercession of his grandmother had prevented his mother from aborting him. He brought a pronounced religious opposition to abortion, telling a group of students, “I’m conceding that unless we put human life second only to God in our lives, we’re becoming a Sodom and Gomorrah… we have an obligation to take sex and life as a far more sacred event than we do now.”
1971-Jesse Jackson, “Birth Control as a National policy will simply marshal sophisticated methods to remove ( and control when not remove) the weak, the poor – quite likely the black and other minorities whose relative increase in population threatens the white caste in this nation. Contraceptives, will become a form of drug warfare against the helpless in this nation. Those who we could not get rid of in the rice paddies of Viet-Nam we now propose to exterminate, if necessary, eliminate if possible, in the OB wards and gynecology clinics of our urban hospitals. The direct extension of the old “man-in-the-house” rule against public aid recipients can be detected in the drive for birth control…” ( Source: Statements at public hearings of the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future as quoted in: Genocide? Birth Control and the Black American by Robert G. Weisbord, Greenwoor Press, 1972 ; P. 165)
1973- Jesse Jackson said, “Abortion is genocide. Anything growing is living…If you got the thrill to set the baby in motion and you don’t have the will to protect it, you’re dishonest…You try to avoid reproducing sickness. You try to avoid reproducing deformities. But you don’t try to stop reproducing and procreating human life at its best. For who knows the cure for cancer won’t come out of some mind of some Black child?” (Jet Magazine Mar 22, 1973; p. 15)
1973- Chicago black leader, rails against birth control and abortion clinics in the black community and warns against “genocide“. …(Chicago Tribune – Apr 19, 1973)
1975 Jesse Jackson joins Dick Gregory in New York spoke during the third annual “Thanksgiving for Life” convention sponsored by the National Youth Pro-Life Coalition, (a non-sectarian, non-partisan group working for “positive alternatives” to abortion, war, capital punishment, euthanasia, compulsory sterilization and “other forms of violence.”) that the nation’s pro-abortion mentality undermines the value and dignity of every human life and that “killing babies” is symptomatic of a civilization and culture which operates without sacred absolutes.
1975- Jesse Jackson joins Billy Graham’s wife for a constitution amendment banning abortion. Jackson and Mrs. Graham were among the signers issued by the Christian Action Council, which read in part, “A deep concern for defenseless human life, including the unborn as well as the handicapped, is a consistent element of Christian moral teaching from the days of the Apostles onward…It is not limited to any particular Christian confession or denomination.” ( Christian’s join Bishops Ban on Abortion The Milwaukee Journal – Dec 1, 1975) and (Protestant leaders back abortion plan: The Telegraph-Herald – Nov 27, 1975)
1984: In 1984, during his bid for President, Jackson was asked: What level of aid should the government provide for abortion? Answer, “I choose to put my emphasis on sex education and self discipline before the fact. I would never encourage abortion, except under medically extenuating circumstances. On eth other hand I do support freedom of choice…” He later supports birth control. Bangor Daily News – May 18, 1984
1984- Jackson supports Medicaid funding of abortions for low-income women .(Morning Call – Apr 8, 1984)
1988 Jesse Jackson is the only remaining US presidential candidate to openly support abortion as a woman’s choice (Toronto Star – Jul 4, 1988)
1988 As a Presidential candidate in 1984 and 1988 Jackson has consistently said that women must have the right to choose whether to have an abortion. In an issues brief, Jackson advocates government medicaid funding of abortions for poor women. But in the 1970‘s and early 1980′s- Jackson who is a Baptist minister- was taking a much different approach. In 1977, he sent an open letter to Congress urging support for an amendment by Rep. Henry Hyde R.-Ill. banning federal funding of abortions. ” As a matter of conscience, I must oppose the use of federal funds for a policy of killing infants,” Jackson wrote. In prepared remarks before an anti-abortion rally in Washington DC, in 1978, Jackson said “allowing abortions may leave us with a hell right here on earth.” As late as May 1982, in an interview with Our Sunday Visitor , a national Catholic Weekly, Jackson said legalized abortions symbolized, ” a definite drift to Sodom and Gommorah in our culture. All this to me is part of a great suicidal process.” When asked to reconcile his positions on abortion Jackson has said that it would not be proper for him as president to impose his religious views on the country. ( Jackson’s Flip Flops raise questions about consistency :Herald-Journal – Apr 24, 1988)
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