Pro-life leaders are denouncing Planned Parenthood's president after she apologized for its founder's links to white supremacy and eugenics.
Over the weekend, Planned Parenthood President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson issued an apology in a New York Times op-ed in light of the organization's founder Margaret Sanger and her alleged racist past.
"Up until now, Planned Parenthood has failed to own the impact of our founder's actions," Johnson wrote. "We have defended Sanger as a protector of bodily autonomy and self-determination while excusing her association with white supremacist groups and eugenics as an unfortunate 'product of her time'."
"Until recently, we have hidden behind the assertion that her beliefs were the norm for people of her class and era, always being sure to name her work alongside that of W.E.B. Dubois and other Black freedom fighters," she continued.
Johnson confirmed that Sanger "spoke to the women's auxiliary of the Ku Klux Klan at a rally in New Jersey to generate support for birth control" and "endorsed the Supreme Court's 1927 decision in Buck v. Bell, which allowed states to sterilize people deemed 'unfit' without their consent and sometimes without their knowledge."
Going forward, Johnson said the abortion giant will make an effort to make Sanger "less prominent in our present and future" yet remaining "an influential part of our history and will not be erased."
Nevertheless, Johnson asserted that Planned Parenthood "must fully take responsibility for the harm that Sanger caused to generations of people with disabilities and Black, Latino, Asian-American, and Indigenous people."
Johnson spent the rest of the op-ed speaking about efforts by the organization that she says have led to higher wages among women. She also spoke about Planned Parenthood's initiatives in fighting against systemic racism.
Following Johnson's op-ed, leaders from pro-life groups Human Coalition and Human Coalition Action criticized the Planned Parenthood president's attempt to apologize for Sanger's past while continuing to push for abortions.
Benjamin Watson, former NFL star and the current Vice President of Human Coalition, argued that Planned Parenthood's "denunciation of Margaret Sanger rings hollow."
"Whether they personally identify with Sanger's ideology or not, they continue to carry out her mission, by serving as the leading executioner of our children," he noted. "The same Sanger they claim to disavow would applaud their efforts and results, as a disproportionate percentage of Black children have been killed in Planned Parenthood's abortion clinics."
"Acknowledging a racist history does not absolve them of the blood on their hands, as they continue to take full advantage of victims of the racism they decry," Watson asserted.
Dr. Deborah Honeycutt, Board Chair of Human Coalition Action, said that the abortion giant "has contributed to the harm of women of color for decades, and Alexis McGill Johnson's so-called 'reckoning' does nothing to change that truth."
Honeycutt further argued that Planned Parenthood has "failed to confront the white supremacy within its organization" while continuing "to aggressively prey on Black and brown communities with abortion."
"Destroying human life contributes to a culture of death and injustice, and Planned Parenthood will always be known for killing a generation of minorities, just as Margaret Sanger dreamed that it would," she continued.
Despite commending Johnson's confession of Sanger's "racist and eugenicist views," the Rev. Dean Nelson, Executive Director of Human Coalition Action, asserted that the abortion giant has targeted people of color with the "implementation of those views."
In supporting his claim, Nelson noted that nearly 80 percent of Planned Parenthood's facilities are located "within walking distance of minority neighborhoods."
"There's no redeeming Planned Parenthood's tainted origins and current-day racist practices. It's a grave injustice that Planned Parenthood uses the taxpayer dollars of Black and brown people to continue Margaret Sanger's legacy of racism and eugenicism across our country," he concluded.
Last September, a coalition of over 120 black leaders urged Planned Parenthood in a letter "to "confront its racist founding, mission and practices."
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago/Staff
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
