Washington State Pro-Lifers Hear Author Angela Franks

Pro-lifers in the state of Washington graciously hosted author Angela Franks as she spoke on Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, and on the organization’s past history and present activities. Franks, author of Margaret Sanger’s Eugenic Legacy, gave well-received presentations in three cities along Puget Sound (Seattle, Tacoma, and Stanwood) and one in eastern Washington (Walla Walla).

Franks’s talk was entitled “Margaret Sanger and Eugenics: What is the Truth, and Why Should We Care?” She argued that Sanger was not only a eugenicist but also institutionalized eugenics within Planned Parenthood, an organization that traces its founding to 1916 when Sanger set up the first American birth-control clinic in the poor immigrant community of Brownsville, a Brooklyn district.

“Planned Parenthood and International Planned Parenthood have this eugenic ideology woven deep within their institutions,” Franks told her audiences. These organizations “in fact advance the eugenic agenda, if often unconsciously.” For example, she explained, “Planned Parenthood has never ceased to target the poor and disabled, Sanger’s favorite examples of the so-called ‘unfit.’”

Most of the talks were sponsored by local chapters of the Washington state affiliate of NRLC, Human Life of Washington. Franks expressed her admiration for the local pro-lifers she met.

“I met so many wonderful and energetic grass-roots activists, all eager to defend the most vulnerable among us,” she told NRL News.

Clare Sislow, co-president of Walla Walla Human Life, was one of those activists. About 45 people attended a talk and book-signing at the historic Marcus Whitman hotel in downtown Walla Walla.

In addition, Myron Miller of Eastside Human Life was instrumental in organizing the talks in the Puget Sound area. Fr. Ed White brought together over 40 people in Tacoma, while Luz Maria Emerson of Stanwood-Camano Human Life gathered a young crowd to hear the presentation in Stanwood.

The chapters face an uphill battle. There are twenty-four Planned Parenthood clinics near Puget Sound, twelve in central and eastern Washington, and at least two more in the southwest. Of the twenty-four Puget Sound clinics, at least twelve perform abortions on-site or administer the abortion pill, while only one offers adoption counseling and placement.

But Franks encouraged Sislow, Emerson, and the others to persevere. She reminded them that pro-lifers have recently achieved significant victories in the fight against Planned Parenthood and that the reelection of George Bush was a huge blow for the organization.

Reflecting on her trip, Franks noted there is an opportunity to use opposition to Planned Parenthood—the nation’s leading abortion performer—as a rallying point

“Planned Parenthood camouflages its abortion advocacy with its reputation as a benevolent charity,” she said. “The more pro-lifers recognize that that reputation is vulnerable, the more they get energized and pursue educational efforts exposing the eugenic practices of Planned Parenthood. That energy is then available when it comes to pursuing pro-life legislative and electoral goals.”

She concluded her talks by observing that “When Planned Parenthood offers ‘choice,’ they mean a dead baby and a wounded mother.” By contrast, Franks said, “We offer life and hope for both mother and child."

“And we must never forget that we are responsible for helping them, because we know the truth.”

You can purchase a copy of Margaret Sanger’s Eugenic Legacy from the National Right to Life Trust Fund for $15. Contact the Trust Fund at education@nrlc.org or call (202) 626-8829.