This is perhaps one of the most outrageous things I've seen in recent memory. UM's anti-abortion group is sending this e-mail around to campus organizations in an effort to spread the message that abortion practices in the US are the equivalent of lynching in the South:

Dear Sociologists of Color,

My name is Benjamin Meyers and I am writing on behalf of Students for Life of the University of Michigan. My message is a sobering one and concerns abortion in the black community. I would like to share with you a few facts and figures about abortion in the black community.

1. Since abortion was legalized in the 1973, 49 million pre-born babies have died. Over 16 million of those aborted were African Americans- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Nov 2007)

2. In 2004, white women had 161 abortions per live 1000 births, Hispanics had 211 abortions per 1000 live births, while African American women had 472 abortions per 1000 live births. Over 47% of African American pregnancies end in abortion- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Nov 2007)

3. African American women account for 38% of all abortions, while only making up 13% of the female population- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Nov 2007)

4. Abortion is the leading cause of death among African Americans. In fact, one can stack deaths from HIV-AIDS, violent crime, accidents, cancer and heart disease one on top of the other and still not come close to the 16 million black babies that have died by abortion.

5. Abortion has reduced the African American population by 39.6% - 3 times more than their representative percentage in the total population in the United States- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Nov 2007); U.S. Census Bureau

6. Between 1882 and 1968, 3,446 African Americans were lynched. That number is surpassed within 3 days by abortion. Abortionists snuff out the lives of approximately 1,275 African American children every day- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Nov 2007)

7. 62.5% of abortion clinics are located in the inner city and in neighborhoods where poor and minority people live.

8. Abortion was and continues to be a tool of population control targeted at "undesirable" groups. Organizations such as Planned Parenthood are deeply stained by the sin of racism. Such groups prefer to keep the African American community ignorant of their link to racism, but the truth can not be hid. In the words of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, "We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population".

There can be no doubt that it is the African American community which suffers the most from abortion. There can be no doubt that abortion takes the life of a human being. There can be no doubt that abortion wrecks a mother psychologically. And there can be be no doubt that abortion is a cancer destroying the African American community.

My goal in writing to you is not to demonstrate the failings of Africa America. It is America that is failing, not just any one community. My goal is to see the African American community rise up and fight this evil. The fulfillment of the dream can not happen unless health and stability is restored in the African American community. And I believe that such healing must start with an end to this silent, but very much real, black genocide.

Please consider joining our efforts to promote the pro-life message on campus. If you believe that abortion is The Civil Rights issue of our time, then please let us know. We would love to do a joint event highlighting the link between racism and abortion sometime in the future here on campus. I hope that you will join our cause.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Meyers, on behalf of Students for Life

You have to hand it to those right-to-lifers -- they know how to co-opt a powerful political message for their own ends!