Prairie State Wire

Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) is questioning the Black Lives Matter movement based on that fact that a disproportional rate of pregnancies for black women end in abortion.

“If black lives matter, why are Illinois taxpayers funding the killing of unborn black babies?” asked Bailey, the first term 109th District representative and recent winner of a personal lawsuit against Gov J.B. Pritzker.

Some groups, such as Grand Rapids Right to Life, call abortion a human rights issue.

Grand Rapids Right to Life claims abortion is the number one killer of black lives in the United States, noting that more than 28 percent of black pregnancies end in abortion.

The Black Lives Matter movement has dominated recent news after the death of George Floyd, but some question how that could be, particularly when so many women choose abortion over childbirth.

In 2018, there were 42,441 abortions performed in the state of Illinois,15,278 of which were black women, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

According to IDPH, the majority (21,745) of those procedures were performed for patients of all racial backgrounds between the ages of 20 and 29. There were 94 procedures for those 14 and under, 998 between 15 and 17, and 225 procedures for 18-19 year olds. Women between age 30 and 34 had 6,632 pregnancies terminated, with the numbers declining from 35 and older.   

It is worth noting that not all of the abortions performed in the state each year are completed for Illinois residents. In fact, 5,668 of the abortions performed in the state in 2018 were for women other states. The majority of abortion procedures performed at the request of Illinois residents were for unmarried women (31,052), compared to 3,578 married women.

In 2014, African American women made up 13.3 percent of the population of the United States, but Grand Rapids Right to Life notes that black women represented 36 percent of the abortions in the United States that year.   

IDPH reports the number of abortions in each Illinois county, except those where five or fewer procedures were performed each year.

Cook County had the highest number in 2018 with 23,189, followed by DuPage (1,572), Will County (1,345) and Lake County (1,256).

Other counties reporting pregnancy terminations by county of residence:

• Adams (56)
• Boone (53)
• Champaign (125)
• Coles (51)
• DeKalb (219)
• Grundy (102)
• Henry (56)
• Jackson (128)
• Kane (994)
• Kankakee (211)
• Kendall (188)
• Knox (99)
• LaSalle (181)
• McHenry (396)
• McLean (332)
• Macon (273)
• Madison (494)
• Marion (57)
• Ogle (58)
• Peoria (585)
• Rock Island (127)
• St. Clair (684)
• Sangamon (451)
• Tazewell (200)
• Vermilion (152)
• Whiteside (62)
• Winnebago (482)