END BOTH: ABORTION IMPACTS MORE LIVES THAN MODERN SLAVERY

This article has been updated on 10/15/16 from the original 2013 post to include current statistics. 

It’s quite popular to join the fight against human sex trafficking. On college campuses across the country, one of the most uncontroversial efforts to engage in is fighting against this despicable human injustice. But those same campuses demonize those whose fight is the abolition of another, and more prevalent, human injustice—abortion.

I’ve always found it strange that anti-trafficking organizations, fighting modern-day slavery, rarely (if ever) mention abortion. How does one speak of the sexual exploitation and dehumanization of women and girls and not discuss the reality of abortions? For instance, a popular and amazing event occurring in locations across the globe, The Justice Conference doesn’t include the words gendercide or abortion in the speaker’s page description of a well-known prolife human rights activist; they describe her merely as a ‘Prominent Christian Activist’. Chai Ling is the founder of All Girls Allowed, a decidedly pro-life, anti-abortion initiative, which fights against China’s horrific practice of forced abortions through its State-enforced One-Child policy. The Conference will invoke poverty, HIV-AIDs, biodiversity conservation, modern-day slavery, climate change, and care for God’s creation but never alludes to the care for God’s creation while in the womb and the countless women harmed by abortion, whether forced or not.

The Polaris Project recently denounced the Republican-controlled Senate for enforcing the existing Hyde Amendment, as Democrats initially prevented anti-trafficking legislation from passing because they want to repeal the pro-life Hyde Amendment which bars taxpayer funding of abortion. The Polaris Project, and the many anti-trafficking organizations that signed a letter to Congress, couldn’t even mention the word ‘abortion’ in the letter, instead referring to the “partisan politics”. We agree with their accusation that human trafficking is a “heinous crime.” Sadly, it is obvious by their bizarre avoidance of the word ‘abortion’, that they don’t think the same of this violent injustice. Thankfully, three pro-life Democrats prevented Harry Reid from blocking the bill, and the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (sponsored by Republican Senator John Cornyn) finally did pass, 99-0 with the Hyde Amendment still intact.

We often hear how there are more slaves today than ever before in human history—27 million according to The EndIt Movement. Well, let’s put that statistic into context. Back in 1860, there were 25 million slaves worldwide. The global population was about 1.3 billion, which meant that 1.9% of the world’s population was enslaved. Today’s definition of “modern slavery” is much more expansive (including bonded labor, forced labor, sex trafficking, forced or servile marriages, slavery, and slavery-like practices to mention a few defining characteristics). This means that 0.37% of the 7.261 billion human beings inhabiting the planet today are enslaved…less than a fifth of the percentage of slavery’s impact on the world’s population in 1860. (By the way, the claim of 29.8 million modern slaves in 2013 increased in just two years to 45.8 million, if you believe the Global Slavery Index. Its numbers are contradicted by numerous other anti-modern-slavery organizations. These numbers are, in part, due to the ever-changing definition of modern slavery and the less than accurate means to assess global estimates.) This doesn’t diminish the desperate need to stop the injustice of modern-day slavery, but it certainly adds clarity. According to the (statistic-falsifying, Planned Parenthood-funded) Guttmacher Institute, there are an estimated 56 million global induced abortions per year, worldwide (which is most likely underestimated). An equivalent of 0.6% of the world’s population is killed by abortion, and this doesn’t even include the number of women killed by abortion. Statistically, abortion impacts more lives than modern slavery.

But it’s not about competition; it’s about consideration. Why does today’s “social justice” movement largely ignore the social injustice of abortion?

The End It Movement, The Polaris Project, Free The Slaves, The A21 Campaign, and the International Justice Mission are some of the leading anti-slavery organizations. I’m perplexed by how they seem to go out of their way not to mention abortion. I applaud their valiant and creative efforts to engage the public about the sex trade but cannot help but be confused as to how the abortion industry is never invoked. If abortion is mentioned, it is only in the context of “forced abortions” or “unsafe abortions”–mentioned only a total of 5 times in obscure and dated subpages among all of these groups, combined. (Side note: Guttmacher claims that 47,000 women die from “unsafe abortions” every year. They cite the World Health Organization on this estimated number, which then cites Guttmacher as the source of the statistic. Nice circular citation. We’ve been Guttmacher’d!)

Whether Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), or Marie Stopes International, none of the modern-day anti-slavery organizations challenge these abortion industries that empower sex traffickers and other sexual predators to continue their criminal business as usual. China is the world’s leading culprit of forced abortions, yet there is no mention of the China Family Planning Association, which is a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. The IPPF wholeheartedly supports CFPA’s barbaric “one-child” forced abortion policy.

The silence is deafening.

The reality is that, globally, the abortion industry is an oppressor among women and young girls. The world’s largest abortion chains profit from the nameless victims and provide cover for the abusers.

Domestically, when was the last time you read about Planned Parenthood exposing a prostitution ring? (PPFA actually advocates for the legalization of prostitution, through a number of its funded groups such as SisterSong. PPFA’s StreetBeat initiative, returning sex trade victims to the streets after “treating them” for STD infections, was created using their “own” funds because they didn’t want to condemn prostitution.) When was the last time you heard about the nation’s largest abortion chain reporting sex traffickers to authorities? Have you ever seen any news about Planned Parenthood celebrating the conviction of rapists because their report led to the arrest of these criminals? When Live Action exposed Planned Parenthood, in numerous video stings, for their willingness to aid and abet sex traffickers, did any of these anti-slavery organizations denounce Planned Parenthood? Did they offer their support of Live Action’s efforts?

More silence.

College students, engaged in the crucial issue of ending human sex trafficking, need to be as informed as they are passionate. But that information has to flow from the sources that have their attention. Global Abortion is a business centered on profiting from the killing of innocent human life—a reality that today’s “social justice” movement largely ignores. If the news media and justice-oriented organizations wanted to illuminate more of the industry, they could examine the evidence and educate the entire public about how abortion truly impacts modern-day slavery. Then, both physical and ideological shackles could be broken.