FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 10, 2011
Contact: Ciara Matthews: (202) 223-8073
Says Statement about Margaret Sanger Not Enough
Washington, D.C. – The Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) this week sent a letter to Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s President Cecile Richards demanding the organization scrap its annual award named after its founder, Margaret Sanger. The organization recently distanced itself from Sanger after Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain criticized her support for “planned genocide” of African-Americans.
In the letter, SBA List charges that Planned Parenthood hasn’t gone nearly far enough in denouncing Sanger’s abhorrent views, and although their organizations might “diverge in mission,” calls on Planned Parenthood to “officially bring to an end any further glorification of Margaret Sanger.”
Excerpts of the letter follow:
…In response to Mr. Cain’s historically accurate account of Sanger’s mission as the founder of Planned Parenthood, a spokesperson for your organization was quoted saying, “For all her positive work, Margaret Sanger made statements some 80 years ago that were wrong then and are wrong now.”
However, this denunciation of Sanger is hardly consistent with the praise and veneration Planned Parenthood has afforded this well-known eugenicist. In fact, each year Planned Parenthood Federation of America awards its “highest honor,” the Margaret Sanger award, as recognition of “leadership, excellence, and outstanding contributions to the reproductive health and rights movement.”
Planned Parenthood’s annual tribute to Sanger, despite her appalling and deplorable statements, as well as your organization’s mission of population control, as explained in your Mission Statement found on IRS tax returns, can only lead one to logically conclude that Planned Parenthood was in fact founded and designed in part for the purpose of preventing specifically targeted groups of people from having children.
If, in fact, this is no longer the purpose and mission of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, it is your responsibility as President to clarify this contradiction by eliminating all reference to, and praise of, Margaret Sanger, by eliminating or renaming the Margaret Sanger award, the organization’s “highest honor,” and removing any and all affirmative mention from your organization’s website, publications and historical accounts of the woman your spokesperson claimed has “no bearing” on the services Planned Parenthood provides.
The Susan B. Anthony List is a nationwide network of more than 330,000 Americans dedicated to mobilizing, advancing, and representing pro-life women in politics. Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in the political process.
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