Planned Parenthood has its roots in early American activist, Margaret Sanger. Sanger opened the nation’s first birth-control center on October 16, 1916, followed 5 years later with the American Birth Control League which became part of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 1942.
Sanger was involved with eugenics, which basically says to improve society, we must prevent those someone deems “unfit” from procreating. Only those select “fit” people should have babies according to those who believe this philosophy. Sanger believed birth control was the way to keep the “unfit” from reproducing. She also believed African-Americans fell into that “unfit” category. In 1939, Sanger began The Negro Project, which was designed to push birth control in African-American communities and was promoted as a solution to poverty and high birth rates.
Eventually as Sanger built and promoted Planned Parenthood, abortion came to be promoted as birth control, and the organizati ...
