Contact: Leslie Palma, 347-286-7277

ATLANTA, Feb. 29, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- The expansion of The African American Outreach of Priests for Life is reflected in the new moniker "Civil Rights for the Unborn."

As the director of the over-a-decade-old pro-life outreach to African Americans, Evangelist Alveda King says, "Today is the last day of Black History Month. Tomorrow is Super Tuesday. Now is the time to give the babies a chance to be born to make history, to be born to live to cast their votes."

Now called Civil Rights for the Unborn, The African American Outreach of Priests for Life, the project will continue to be led by longtime activist Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and daughter of A.D. King.

"Our new name reflects what Priests for Life's African American Outreach program has always been – an arm of the civil rights movement to which my family has dedicated our lives," said Dr. King. "On this last day of Black History Month, we reaffirm that, acting under the banner Civil Rights for the Unborn, we will clearly and forcefully continue to heighten awareness in the black community that civil rights begin when life begins."

Over the last 10 years, Priests for Life's outreach program to African Americans has worked nationally with other civil rights activists on numerous efforts, including organizing the Pro-Life Freedom Rides, protesting convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell's "House of Horrors" abortion clinic, and publicizing "Tonya Reaves Could Have Been Me," the consciousness-raising campaign that grew from the tragic death of a young African American woman who died from an abortion.

This year again, Priests for Life and Civil Rights for the Unborn will work hard to make sure voters keep the life issue in the forefront as they choose the next president of the United States.

"My prayer is that we elect a pro-life president," Dr. King said. "That's a priority."

Commenting on the expanded outreach of Civil Rights for the Unborn, Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life said, "The right to life is both a civil right and the foundation of all other civil rights. With Alveda's leadership, Civil Rights for the Unborn will proclaim these truths to the African American community, which has been so disproportionately devastated by abortion."