History of Planned Parenthood

Margaret Sanger

• Born in 1879
• 6th of 11 children

Father

• Fought in Sherman’s Army (March to the Sea)
• Never provided for his family properly

Family

• Mother was a strict Catholic
• Father had no use for religion
• Poor and depraved

Youth

• Unhappy and confused
• Limited in joy, fun, money, food
• Went to boarding school and enjoyed freedom

Adult

• Started as a teacher
• Went into nursing
• Marriages
• Wild Behavior
• Influence of Thomas Malthus: “All children born, beyond what would be required to keep up the population to a desired level must necessarily perish, unless room be made for them by the deaths of grown persons.” (Grant, p.51)

Goals of Planned Parenthood

White Supremacy Roots (Eugenics)
“She (Margaret) was thoroughly convinced that the ‘inferior races’ were in fact ‘human weeds’ and a ‘menace to civilization’.” (Grant, p. 91)

Sexual Freedom
Planned Parenthood’s definition of “freedom” means:

• Women can do whatever they want as long as it feel good
• No one should be able to tell a woman when she should have a child
• Your body is your own and no one can tell you differently or influence you
• You do not have to tell anyone what you do or plan; you don’t even have to tell your husband or parents
• When a woman wants to have one or two children, is prepared to rear them, and can handle the responsibilities, then a child can be a benefit for society

Racism

• Think of where the Planned Parenthood clinics are located
• Which group of people fall into the category of low income, on welfare, low educational levels, etc.
• Do yon think Planned Parenthood copied people like Hitler or was it the other way around?
• Why does Planned Parenthood work so hard at raising money from the government and other agencies? Could it be that the people they target to serve are inner-city minorities who don’t have the money for abortions?

Realm of Influence of Planned Parenthood

Influential People

• Faye Wattleton, past president of PP attacked Pat Robertson for comments he made about Margaret Sanger. The comments he made were similar to what is listed above and are documented. She was able to carry out this attack on TV, in newspapers, and radio.
• Alan Guttmacher, leading medical survey soiree, regularly issues life-related survey results. Those who think Guttmacher is factual or neutral are easily misled. In actuality he was a past president of Planned Parenthood.
• Katherine Hepburn, actress, in a fundraising letter, boasted how her mother helped Margaret Sanger develop the American Birth Control League [later to become Planned Parenthood].

Organizational Changes

Under Faye Wattleton in the 1980s, PP became more liberal and took on a corporate image. At first she was delicate in her choice of words and phrases, but eventually she bluntly worked at promoting abortion rights. She effectively used mailings, newspapers, TV, and government lobbyists. Here are some examples from her tenure as president:

– Annual budget from $4.7 million to $50 million
– Over 900 clinics were opened
– About 170 affiliates
– 26,000 staff and volunteers
– 480,000 donors

Realm of Influence of Planned Parenthood

Target is Teens

Pamphlets.

Planned Parenthood makes wide use of “educational materials” which are used in schools. No parental consent is needed to distribute these pamphlets:

• • Choices. Outlines various methods of birth control, explains methods you can use to satisfy sexual desires yet avoid pregnancy [have fun without risk].
  • Ten Heavy Facts About Sex. “No one has the right to condemn a person on the basis of that person’s manner of sexual expression”; “Obviously, if one person forces another to engage in any sexual act, or if an adult has sex with a child, that is not good.”
  • Sex Facts. “Married couples usually want to have sex together.” The book discusses oral and anal sex with some graphic detail.
  • Homosexuality. “Lots of people have had sex experiences with someone of the same sex.”

• Abortion. “Legal abortion is safer than childbirth.” “If a woman decides to have an abortion as soon as she knows she’s pregnant, it is easier and cheaper than later.”
• Changing Bodies, Changing Lives and Our Bodies, Ourselves. Discusses masturbation, fantasizing, homosexuality, and others, from the viewpoint of other teens who have done these things and enjoyed them. Parents are told to respect teen’s privacy and let them experiment.
• Teen Sex? It’s Okay to Say: No Way. This title really sounds good considering it comes from Planned Parenthood, but don’t let the title fool you. It says many people have remained virgins through high school or college, but also indicates that many have taken their right to be sexually active. It also shares types of contraceptives and their effectiveness ratings. The purpose of this pamphlet was to get into some of the more conservative school systems.
• The Peril of Puberty. “There are things you want to talk to your parents about and there are things yon don’t want to talk to your parents about. If you know something that will make your parents mad, then don’t tell them.”