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WASHINGTON, D.C., April 15, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After the mayor of the District of Columbia was arrested for protesting a budget deal that banned taxpayer funds for local abortions, a group of local black pastors have expressed shock at the mayor’s pro-abortion “passion” and announced the planned opening of a new pregnancy center to help D.C. women avoid abortion

Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray was arrested Monday on charges of trespassing after he led a group in front of Senate office buildings to protest the deal restoring the Dornan amendment banning abortion funding in D.C., which is estimated to save 1,000 lives from abortion in the city each year.

In response, a coalition of D.C. pastors are challenging the mayor to stand up for “the tiniest of constituents who truly cannot speak for themselves” – the unborn.

An open letter was signed by 10 African American pastors from the District of Columbia and surrounding areas, including Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr. and Rev. Dean Nelson of Care Net, a national network of 1,130 pregnancy centers.

“Who could have imagined during the height of the Civil Rights Movement a day when the mayor of Washington, D.C. would be arrested for protesting for the right to use tax dollars to abort babies, a disproportionate number of them black? As pastors and community leaders, we feel bewildered and betrayed,” states the letter.

“Abortion is the leading cause of death in the black community nationwide,” the pastors write. “While African American women represent 13% of the female population, they undergo 37% of all abortions.

“As a leader charged with our protection and government, we are shocked at your passion to continue this trend with tax dollars.”

The letter also states that the coalition of pastors plan to open a new, privately-funded pregnancy center in Washington, D.C. this year in order to offer women life-affirming alternatives to abortion.

This center will be supported by their own congregations, non-profit organizations, and other private sources, to offer practical help, counseling, and resources to help women to carry their pregnancies to term.