How False Narratives of Margaret Sanger Are Being Used to Shame Black Women by Imani Gandy RHReality Check

Anti-choicers wield misattributed and often outright false quotes about Sanger as weapons to shame Black women for exercising their right to choose, and even more nonsensically, to shame them for supporting Planned Parenthood.

Such is the clarion call of these anti-choicers.

At the outset, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that whether or not Planned Parenthood had its roots in anti-Blackness is irrelevant in a discussion of the services that Planned Parenthood provides in 2015, ranging from abortion care to prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, to Pap smears and other forms of cancer screening. The United States is rooted in anti-Blackness. Anti-Blackness was built into the U.S. Constitution by this country’s Founding Fathers. Nearly every major corporation that exists today was either founded by racists, employed racists built their business on anti-Blackness and slavery, or all of the above. Any argument that Black women in America should disavow Planned Parenthood because of some history of anti-Blackness would necessarily require that Black women disavow the very country in which we live.

But on to the truth about Margaret Sanger.

Sanger was pro-birth control and anti-abortion. This may surprise you, considering that Planned Parenthood opponents frequently accuse Sanger of erecting abortion clinics in Black neighborhoods, a practice they claim the organization continues to this day.

But this is simply not true.

Sanger opposed abortion. She believed it to be a barbaric practice. In her own words

“[a]lthough abortion may be resorted to in order to save the life of the mother, the practice of it merely for limitation of offspring is dangerous and vicious.” Her views are, ironically, in keeping with the views of many of the anti-choicers who malign and distort her legacy.

In fact, Planned Parenthood did not even begin performing abortions until after 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade legalized the practice. Margaret Sanger had been dead for four years by then. And currently, less than 4 percent of Planned Parenthood clinics that offer abortion services are located in communities where more than one-third of the population is Black, according to a recent analysis conducted by Planned Parenthood that Alencia Johnson, assistant director of constituency communications at Planned Parenthood, shared with me via email. A broader analysis conducted by the Guttmacher Institute in 2011 based on data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that fewer than one in ten abortion providers overall are located in neighborhoods where more than half of residents are Black. It is simply false that Planned Parenthood is targeting Black women by setting up clinics primarily in Black neighborhoods.

Hillary Heads South, Taking Nothing for Granted with Black Voters

Vice President Biden spent this afternoon at the Congressional Black Caucus event in Washington, a “last-minute move” writes Politico, that enhances speculation about his pending presidential run. Hillary Clinton headed to the event from her rousing day in New Hampshire, where she came alive again, according to MSNBC, who cuts the presidential front runner no slack.

President Obama is the keynote speaker, but the Clinton camp held a reception for black lawmakers. Politico indicates that Hillary Clinton will be in high demand, as she mingles in the crowd.

Twenty-seven of the CBC’s 46 members have already endorsed Clinton.Salon wrote on Sept. 11, that only 6 of the 46 members showed up for a recent meeting in which Bernie Sanders tried to elicit support from the delegation. A recent PPP poll found Clinton leading Sanders 66 to 12 percent in the state, with 78 percent of African-American voters holding a positive view of Clinton.

“I called Bernie Sanders after my race, and no one ever called me back at all,” said Dickerson, a longtime councilwoman in Richland County, home to the state capital of Columbia. “I got more than 400,000 votes. If he’s not interested in my thoughts, in my list of voters, why should I be interested in him?”

Secy Clinton did an interview on Friday with American Urban Radio. On Monday the presidential candidate will campaign in Louisiana and Arkansas, which hold primaries in March 2016. NBC News writes that in 2008, about half of the voters in the Louisiana Democratic primary were black.

In an article delayed by AlterNet until its author Terrell Jermaine Starr took to his Twitter feed for support, the author asks Why Aren’t More Black Voters Feeling the Bern?

Hillary Headlines Sept. 19

Clinton amps up at New Hampshire cattle call Politico

Hillary Clinton comes alive at New Hampshire convention MSNBC

A new Hillary Clinton is emerging on the campaign trail Business Insider

Maggie Hassan endorses Hillary Clinton for president WMUR.com

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton picked up the endorsement of Gov. Maggie Hassan on Friday in the middle of a three-day trip to New Hampshire.

Hillary Clinton Willing to Cross Border To Combat Heroin ABC News

Super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton raises $25 million since July 1 CBS News

Clinton on Trump not challenging anti-Muslim questioner: ‘I was appalled’ CNN