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| Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger |
Karen Seltzer, the chair of the New York affiliate’s board, said in a statement, “The removal of Margaret Sanger’s name from our building is both a necessary and overdue step to reckon with our legacy and acknowledge Planned Parenthood’s contributions to historical reproductive harm within communities of color.”
Margaret Sanger's eugenicist beliefs motivated many of her actions when it came to promoting abortion. One of her most infamous initiatives, which she called her "Negro Project," involved using black community leaders to promote abortion to black women who otherwise would never have considered abortion. This would further the eugenist goal of reducing the population growth of black and brown people (whom eugenicists believe are genetically inferior to whites). About her "Negro Project," Margaret Sanger said:
"We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal.We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."
Margaret Sanger's bigoted philosophy of eugenics is mired in racism, classism, and ableism. It deeply influenced the development of Planned Parenthood. It is the reason that a disproportionate number of Planned Parenthood clinics are located in low-income minority communities, and it is the reason that women bearing children with disabilities are pressured to abort their babies. While Planned Parenthood may try to remove Margaret Sanger's name from its buildings, her legacy remains alive and well.
