As Americans honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., a congressman says the nation is not aware of how Planned Parenthood targets black Americans with abortions. Arizona Rep. Trent Franks says the abortion industry has preyed on African-American communities for too long.

Franks told LifeNews.com today that he is "calling on Americans to work toward ending the abortion industry's disproportionate targeting of minorities."

"Today, we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. for dedicating his life to the fulfillment of a truth outlined in the Declaration of Independence: that all men are created equal, regardless of their skin color," Franks said. "While we have come a long way in the 40+ years since his death, another major hurdle in the Civil Rights Movement still looms before us: the disturbing targeting of minority populations by the abortion industry."

Franks points to startling figures to make his case.

"An astonishing 50% of African-American babies are killed by abortion," he points out. "And nearly 80% of abortion clinics are deliberately located in or near predominantly minority neighborhoods."

Ultimately, Franks says "a minority baby is five times more likely to be aborted than a white child."

Franks is the sponsor of the H.R. 1822, the Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act, which prohibits race-based abortions.

The bill would make it illegal to knowingly perform, solicit, or accept funding for either race- or sex-selection abortions as Planned Parenthood has done.

The Arizona Republican lawmaker says he's not surprised that Planned Parenthood targets black Americans with abortions given comments from its founder.

"The abortion industry's biggest secret is that their entire movement was largely founded by eugenicists like Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, who infamously said, 'We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population,'" he said.

"That appalling outlook has continued to influence Planned Parenthood and the rest of the abortion industry," he concludes.