Memphis, TN (LifeNews.com) -- As Americans honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the fortieth anniversary of his assassination, his niece says abortion has become the civil rights cause of today. Dr. Alveda King, who has suffered from multiple abortions, says the destruction of human life is on par with the lack of civil rights of her uncle's generation.

In a speech at a church in downtown Memphis, King noted how her uncle was killed on this day in 1968.

But a short five years later the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to unlimited abortions in the Roe v. Wade decision -- one that King says has decimated the nation and the black community in particular.

"There are people dying in this country, everyday," she said, focusing on a the plight of a different set of powerless people. "They are unborn children."

"The fight against abortion is a new frontier in the civil rights movement," she said, according to an article in the Mississippi Daily Journal.

"My uncle often said that we don't follow through," King added. "He said that we admonish black women not to abort their babies but we don't show them how to care for them, don't give them options for life."

King bemoaned the number of black leaders today who embrace abortion.

The newspaper said King told the audience that African-American political leaders sold out their pro-life views for support from abortion advocates and other political groups for promoting civil rights.

"We didn't understand how dramatically abortion was affecting our community," she said. "The tradeoff between concentrating too much on other social issues and ignoring abortion has been a deadly tradeoff."

Ultimately, the newspaper said King wants African-Americans to have a new dream about how life can be for America.

"If we're not speaking for the voiceless, not being strong for those who are weak, we're not living Martin's dream," she said.