In her own words - Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood

(I wrote this blog early in 2008, but thought the content was worth reposting)

Early this morning while turning the opposite route of my typical Starbucks run before work (as I am boycotting them due to their large financial support to Planned Parenthood), I started to think of the specific reasons that I so passionately do not support Planned Parenthood. I thought it might be worth sharing a little bit of the big picture from my perspective. My reasoning might suprise you, as it is more than just the obvious (the obvious being that as a pro-life woman, I wouldn't support an organization that is a provider of abortion).

This being said, one of the most significant reasons that I, personally, do not support PP is the ideology of the organization's founder herself. Many people do not know much about Margaret Sanger (1883 - 1966), a nurse and member of the Socialist Party (also commonly known as the Nazi party) who founded Planned Parenthood. She was also a writer for the Socialist Party's paper, The Call.

I don't have time to go into great detail on Ms. Sanger's life (there are many biographies out there for anyone who is interested), so I think the best way to demonstrate the many reasons I do not support her movement or ideology is by using her own words. Ms. Sanger, by her own accord, demonstrates a lack of respect for human life and dignity, not just of the unborn children, but also of minorities, including racial minorities and the handicapped. Being the child of a handicapped mother (my mom had severe polio and almost died when she was 3 years old, and has had no use of one of her legs since that time), you can imagine how some of these words strike on a personal level. Many of my close friends are also part of minority groups, and anyone who would speak of them as seperate than myself and in a negative light immediately loses my respect. I pity the close-minded philosophies of Ms. Sanger. She seems to have missed out on most of the beauty of humanity by her shallow views towards our diverse and unique population.

I believe that an organization shares the moral philosophy of it's founder. Planned Parenthood is an organization that is founded on the following. Feel free to draw your own conclusions:

In her own words - famous quotes from Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood:

On family:

"The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it."
- Margaret Sanger (1883 - 1966) Women and the New Race

On African Americans, immigrants and indigents:

"...human weeds,' 'reckless breeders,' 'spawning... human beings who never should have been born."
- Margaret Sanger, Pivot of Civilization, referring to immigrants, racial minorities and poor people

On sterilization & racial purification:

"Sanger believed that, for the purpose of racial "purification," couples should be rewarded who chose sterilization."
- Birth Control in America, The Career of Margaret Sanger, by David Kennedy, p. 117, quoting a 1923 Sanger speech.

On the right of married couples to bear children:

"Couples should be required to submit applications to have a child, she wrote in her "Plan for Peace."
- Birth Control Review, April 1932

On the purpose of birth control:

"The purpose in promoting birth control was "to create a race of thoroughbreds," she wrote in the Birth Control Review, Nov. 1921 (p. 2)

On the rights of the handicapped and mentally ill, and racial minorities:

"More children from the fit, less from the unfit -- that is the chief aim of birth control." Birth Control Review, May 1919, p. 12

On respecting the rights of the mentally ill:

In her "Plan for Peace," Sanger outlined her strategy for eradication of those she deemed "feebleminded." Among the steps included in her evil scheme were immigration restrictions; compulsory sterilization; segregation to a lifetime of farm work; etc. Birth Control Review, April 1932, p. 107

On adultery:

A woman's physical satisfaction was more important than any marriage vow, Sanger believed. Birth Control in America, p. 11

On marital sex:

"The marriage bed is the most degenerating influence in the social order." - Margaret Sanger

On the YMCA and YWCA: (I just find this one interesting, as the YMCA and YWCA were both founded as organizations to help men and women)

"...brothels of the Spirit and morgues of Freedom!", The Woman Rebel - No Gods, No Masters, May 1914, Vol. 1, No. 3.

On the Catholic Church's view of contraception:

"...enforce SUBJUGATION by TURNING WOMAN INTO A MERE INCUBATOR." The Woman Rebel - No Gods, No Masters, May 1914, Vol. 1, No. 3.

On motherhood itself:

"I cannot refrain from saying that women must come to recognize there is some function of womanhood other than being a child-bearing machine." What Every Girl Should Know, by Margaret Sanger (Max Maisel, Publisher, 1915)

(Side note from me: I, personally, as a woman have never once felt that my womanhood meant I was a "child-bearing machine" - I also do not know any of my female friends who would say they feel this way.)

After reading the above, you should have a pretty solid grasp on why I do not support Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger's agenda or anything that represents the two. Every human life has dignity, and just because someone refuses to acknowledge this fact does not make it any less true. Whether the life in question is an unborn child, a handicapped person, someone of a racial minority or someone of a racial majority - each human life has equal dignity. It is what we choose to do with that dignity that defines us. Personally, I am going to stand up for the dignity of all people, regardless of how a single Socialist woman has managed to brainwash a generation.

Wait - I take that back. Ms. Sanger hasn't won, she hasn't brainwashed an entire generation or else I myself would not be writing this. There are still those who believe in the dignity of all humanity, and it is my prayer that those who still believe in the dignity and beauty of all human life will continue to stand up for truth.

It's too bad Ms. Sanger never met Mr. George Washington Carver. His take on human life and dignity is much more inspirational:

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these."
- George Washington Carver