Does Planned Parenthood Have a Racist Agenda?

Last week, Pastor Patrick Dye of Macedonia Baptist Church in Columbia, SC posted a sign on his church's marquee stating that "Abortionists target black babies." Dye, a White pastor, explained that, "I cannot be silent and just say that‘s somebody else’s problem or I’m not dark enough to care about that issue. I can’t do that." He also goes on to talk about who the Planned Parenthood in his city is conveniently located at the edge of a White neighborhood, which is within walking distance of the housing projects where mostly Blacks live.


Is Pastor Dye's claim justified? Let's take a look at the history of Planned Parenthood.


Planned Parenthood was founded by Margaret Sanger, a nurse, sex educator, and birth control advocate. Some would say that she founded the organization to help rid the population of African Americans; however, the first clinic was opened in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY in 1916 when it was predominately Jewish. 


She was, like a lot of other intellects of her time, an known proponent of eugenics, and one cannot rule out that as the premise for her development of such an organization, since the Brownsville location was highly crime-ridden at that time. "Eugenics," however, does not necessarily mean wanting to weed out an entire race. Her idea of this practice was to reduce the reproduction of the "unfit." The term "unfit" is not clearly defined; however, it does not necessarily mean an entire race of people. She also denounced the Nazi's eugenics program, a.k.a. the Holocaust.


As far as abortions go, Ms. Sanger was an opponent of abortions and focused her efforts on providing contraceptives to prevent pregnancies rather than terminating them when they occur. It was not until after her death that the reproductive rights movement chose to include abortion rights along with contraception; therefore, although Ms. Sanger's primary goal was to provide contraception to women, what Planned Parenthood is mainly known for today is its abortions.


Some who condemn the organization would say that they focus on aborting Black babies. There was and undercover investigation in which staff and other representatives of the organization enthusiastically accepted money from people acting as donors wanting to target Blacks for abortions. Some would also argue that the facilities are strategically posted in Black neighborhoods.


So, does Planned Parenthood have a racist agenda? Personally, I don't buy into conspiracy theories. I think that Ms. Sanger was genuinely looking out for the sexual health of women when she created the organization, and the staff members who were so willing to accept money from those donors were not necessarily representative of the whole organization.


Do you think that the Planned Parenthood has a racist agenda?