Planned Parenthood Tries to Distance Itself From Founder Margaret Sanger

On Tuesday Planned Parenthood in New York announced it is taking steps to distance itself from its founder, Margaret Sanger.

In a press release posted on its website, the abortion giant wote,

Today, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York announced its plans to remove Margaret Sanger’s name from the Manhattan Health Center as a public commitment to reckon with its founder’s harmful connections to the eugenics movement. PPGNY also announced it is working with the Community Board, City Council and community to rename an honorary street sign that marks the “Margaret Sanger Square” at the intersection of Bleecker and Mott Streets in Manhattan. 

Sanger founded the organization that eventually became Planned Parenthood Federation of America in New York in 1921, and she promoted birth control in African-American communities.

Sanger was a member of the eugenics movement, which pushed for pregnancy prevention and sterilization among so-called “unfit” members of society.

The eugenics movement was notorious in the U.S. and abroad for targeting certain races and ethnic groups as well as the poor, the sick, and the disabled, and Sanger praised eugenics efforts to sterilize the physically and mentally disabled.

Planned Parenthood has worked for years to downplay or dismiss Sanger’s views on eugenics.

Even as recently as 2016 the organization published documents attempting to sanitize many of Sanger’s beliefs and actions.

That could be because Margaret Sanger is so thoroughly woven into the legacy of Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood named its facility in New York after Margaret Sanger.

It worked with city officials to have a street named after her.

Up until 2015, it gave out its highest honor, the Margaret Sanger Award, annually to individuals who align with Planned Parenthood’s mission.

For Planned Parenthood now to try to distance itself from Margaret Sanger is very telling.

However, it’s important to understand that even if Planned Parenthood takes Margaret Sanger’s name off the signs outside its buildings, that won’t change the fact that approximately one in three abortions are performed in a Planned Parenthood facility.

Abortion still targets minorities and women living in poverty both in Arkansas and across the nation.

According to state reports, 46% of all abortions performed in Arkansas in 2019 were on African-American women despite the fact that African-Americans make up approximately 15% – 16% of the state population.

Most abortions performed in Arkansas are on single moms, who face a higher risk of living in poverty.

To put it plainly:

Taking Margaret Sanger’s name off the side of an abortion facility might show that Planned Parenthood is facing tremendous pressure to improve its public image, but it does nothing to change the death and destruction that Planned Parenthood causes every year as the nation’s leading abortion provider.