townhall.com
2026-10-26
This weekend marks 110 years since Margaret Sanger opened her first birth control facility in Brooklyn on October 16, 1916. That facility marked the beginning of her movement, but beneath the glossy facade lies a century-long history of eugenics, racism, and systemic killing. Planned Parenthood's modern image coexists with a documented history involving eugenics and well-established efforts to drive genocidal levels of abortion among vulnerable, low-income populations.
Planned Parenthood itself acknowledges that Sanger embraced eugenics, an ideology that classified certain people as genetically or socially unfit to reproduce. That history matters to our mission to end abortion and defend preborn children as Students for Life of America (SFLA) and Students for Life Action (SFLAction) challenge Planned Parenthood's access to taxpayer funding.
The American Birth Control League (ABCL), founded by Margaret Sanger, was a eugenics-driven organization that promoted birth control as a means to 'purify' society by suppressing reproduction among those deemed 'defective' or 'unfit.' Sanger's own writings consistently advocated for the elimination of 'defective stocks' -- a framework that she and her contemporaries applied to the poor, the mentally ill, and racial minorities, systematically targeting these populations under the guise of public health.