Contact: Margaret Sciarrino, Priests for Life, 888-735-3448 ext. 251

ATLANTA, March 2 /Christian Newswire/ -- Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Director and Director of African American Outreach for Priests for Life, commented today on attacks made on Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) concerning his remarks on abortion and slavery.

"Congressman Franks' comment that 'far more of the African American community is being devastated' by abortion 'than were being devastated by the policies of slavery' makes a quantitative distinction," said Dr. King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  "It's not a judgment as to which of the two brutal, inhumane practices is worse, but rather which has impacted more people."

"Examining the statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and the Alan Guttmacher Institute, one can estimate that 14 million African Americans were killed by abortion between 1973 and 2005," stated Dr. King.  "That's 'far more' than the number of blacks who suffered under the horrors of slavery from our country's founding until emancipation.  The last Census to count slaves in 1860 numbered them at 4 million.  Even assuming short life spans, it's hard to see how the total number of slaves approaches the number of blacks killed by abortion."

"From what I've read, the people who attempt to criticize Congressman Franks for his words are people who think unborn black babies don't have the right to exist," added Dr. King.  "That is the slave owner's mindset, namely that some people are less than human."

"Congressman Franks' record of caring and concern for Americans of every color and of every age is second to none," concluded Dr. King.  "I only wish we had more leaders like him."

Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.