The Whut Pages - The Whut? Report

Freedom or Death
Abortion and Hip-Hop
By Pharoh Talib

“Knowing you are the best part of life do I have the right to take yours ‘cuz I created you irresponsibly?” Common started off asking that introspective question almost a decade ago on the seminal Lauren Hill featured opus from his 1997 album One Day It'll All Make Sense. “Retrospect for Life” is an emotional song about abortion where Common outlines the circumstances surrounding his fateful decision during contrite conversations with both his aborted child and the mother. I could almost relate to the scenario because I almost went through it myself. A girl I was seeing at the time told me that she thought that she missed her period. I was immediately like, “Yo! You gotta take a test. If you’re pregnant you gotta get rid of that sh-t because I ain’t ready for no kid.” At the time, I was an immature unemployed teen who’s experience with responsibilities didn’t extend much past taking out the trash and whatever other chores my moms got on me about because I forget to do them. Anyway, trying to raise a seed at that point in my life was like leaving a crack-head alone in your house over the weekend –far from ideal. Fortunately, we weren’t forced to pursue that route as it turned out to be nothing but a scary realization. The same can’t be said for countless others that face this reality on any given day.

My outlook about simply “getting rid of it” matured a bit as I’ve grown older and became more conscience about the issue. I’ve consoled many distraught females who’ve unexpectedly became pregnant and decided to get an abortion. A few of those that relieved themselves of the responsibility of raising a child but later used my shoulder as a cry pillow dealt with episodes of depression and a sudden attachment of something that doesn’t exist, shaken over the fact that they just killed their own child. I will admit that I’m angered by those that use abortion as a form of birth control. After unconsciously discarding their undeveloped fetus they reject any responsibility and simply continue with their promiscuous ways. To them the whole occurrence was nothing more than a brief inconvenience.

“Nerve, I got to talk about them niggas with a gun/ Must have really thought I was God to take the life of my son” – Common, “Retrospect for Life”

Today, the debate over abortion has become much more than bumper stickers that read “Choose life. Your mother did.” This issue was one of the paramount factors that swayed the outcome of 2004’s presidential race and it also attributed to last year’s fervor on Capitol Hill that centered over Supreme Court appointments. President Bush’s controversial nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to replace retiring associate justice Sandra Day O’Connor and deceased chief justice William Rehnquist to the Supreme Court immediately changed the previously balanced makeup of the nation’s highest court into a conservatively laden one. Because of the court’s now right-leaning stance pro-choice advocates are afraid that the court has the votes needed to possibly overturn the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that made terminating pregnancies legal in 1973.

It has been reported that Black people as a whole are typically conservative on issues such as abortion but with the Hip-Hop generation generally taking a more liberal view on many things where do we stand as a community on this one?

The nation is divided by Pro-life advocates, who argue that abortion is murder no matter when it’s performed, and pro-choice proponents, who say that it is the women’s body and ultimately her right to choose. Caught in between this entire debate are those who are undecided or unsure. In “Retrospect for Life” Common paints an apologetic picture that in the end leans pro-life and deals with a general circumstance that many times leads to an abortion, the ultimate decision of taking a child’s “first breath, first step, and first cry”, because the would-be parents wasn’t “prepared mentally nor financially”.

Responses from the Hip-hop community

“I strongly disagree with the entire abortion thing. I think that its bullsh-t that taxes pay for the right for the mother to decide if her child lives. I also think its bullsh-t that fathers have no say so in any manner. If the mother does not want the child, she can kill it without the fathers say so? What do you think adoption is for? Abortion is murder.” - Phr3ak vbmenu_register("postmenu_16647", true);

“OK, well I'm pro abortion but that doesn't mean I think it should be used loosely as a method of birth control. I just think there are situations where it would be more cruel to bring a baby into this world.” - TinkaBelle

“In my opinion, if you become a parent, it's your f-cking fault. Rape is the only possible way I might even consider abortion.”- Ben vbmenu_register("postmenu_16702", true);
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“Rape should not be an issue. The emergency contraception pill can be taken within 72 hours of intercourse to prevent against pregnancy.” - Marcellus W.

“I’m totally pro choice as long as you’re not using it as a method of birth control and it's not a late term abortion because if it's anything past three months its no longer just sucking some cells out...they have to go in there and kill the fetus first and then suck it out...then that's just murder.” - SyLeNtAnGeL

“I am more for Pro-Choice because it is the women’s body and there for her decision. No one can make grown women do something she doesn’t want to do like have a baby if she feels she is not ready.” - Bambi Eyez

“I think abortion should stay legal because if it were not for abortions, our taxpaying dollars would be going to every 13 year old who decided to have sex for the first time. If abortion is banned, it will set women back 100 years.” – Kee Kee S.

The issue of abortion hits home with the Hip-Hop community more so than any other societal segment because statistics show that not only does the United States have the highest rate of teen pregnancy of all industrial countries but most of our teenage mothers come from socially and/or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Some even argue that abortion is a form of genocide. And they may have a point because the high pregnancy rate among disadvantaged teens is a big reason why as much as one out of every three African- American pregnancies end up terminated.
Nick Cannon took a serious turn from his usual comical persona and released a video for his single “Can I Live”, a conscience raising song also taking a pro-life stance on abortion. In the video Cannon depicts an experience that according to him is based on his own life story. In interviews conducted around the time of the video’s release Cannon shared that the motivation for the song came about because his mother almost aborted him until a last minute decision to not follow through.

Still if abortion was illegal it wouldn’t do much to deter those who are determined to terminate their pregnancies. In countries where abortions aren’t legal the abortion rate is still just as high as it was before it was made illegal because of underground abortion methods. Growing up I’ve heard plenty of stories of girls doing “bootleg” abortions with hangers and dumping the deceased fetuses in alley garbage bins.
Joe Budden reinforced a similar thinking on the mix-tape remix to Ushers “Confessions” where he tells the story of his girl getting pregnant and a man’s mind state when he’s unable to persuade her to get rid of it, "Pray that she abort that, if she's talkin' 'bout keepin' it/One hit to the stomach, she's leakin' it." The verse left pro-lifers livid. Under fire Budden responded by explaining to AllHipHop.com, “I'm just saying what a guy's mind state is when he's put in that situation. Like it or not, that's a guy's mind state. That's how it can be when you are put in a powerless situation."

Whatever side of the line of the line you stand on this issue I recommend that you educate yourself about this issue if the thought of abortion ever crossed your mind. Whether you believe that life begins at the point of conception or that seed inside is just a bunch of cells in the belly until it becomes a fetus you need to know what you are standing up for or against. The only thing that is clear in my eyes in this lengthy debate is that regardless of your personal views abortion should never be used as a means for birth control, that’s what condoms, pills, and responsible sex practices are for.

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