Posted on Thu, Jul. 03, 2008

We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We do not want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.

So wrote Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a letter in 1939 to Clarence Gamble, a partner in her plan to promote birth control and abortions in the black community.

In spite of numerous quotes such as the one above, Planned Parenthood denies that Sanger was a racist. But it should be no surprise that some black ministers are suspicious of the motives of our nation's largest abortion provider. Several of them recently held a march in Washington, D.C., to ask the Democratic and Republican parties not to take donations from Planned Parenthood.

"It's an anti-civil rights act to support Planned Parenthood," said Alveda King, niece of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. When she was young, she had two abortions, including one at a Planned Parenthood facility.

Last year, the organization performed more than 250,000 abortions, which account for about 1 in 5 of our country's total. Of all abortions, those performed for black women accounted for about a third of the procedures. It's also worth noting that a majority of Planned Parenthood's clinics are in minority neighborhoods.

According to the group's latest financial report, abortion is making Planned Parenthood some big money. For the first time, it recorded revenues of $1 billion, and of that, more than $300 million was donated by you, the American taxpayer, through government programs. To ensure its piece of the taxpayer's pie, the organization is planning to donate $10 million in this election cycle to pro-choice candidates.

"Planned Parenthood admits that it made over $100 million in profits last year from its businesses," said King. "There's no reason, none at all, for Congress to be giving our money to a billion-dollar enterprise like Planned Parenthood that preys on women and targets African-Americans and other minorities with its deadly offerings."

The organization faced a big controversy after a pro-life group made calls last summer to Planned Parenthood affiliates in several states. The callers posed as racist donors who wanted to fund abortions for blacks. In at least two cases, the Planned Parenthood employees were willing to accept the money.

Planned Parenthood apologized for how those calls were handled. It also stated in a press release that "Planned Parenthood believes that all women and men have equal rights and should have access to preventive health care. Planned Parenthood firmly and unequivocally denounces racial bias in the delivery of health care."

But given its track record, Planned Parenthood demands scrutiny, and the taking of nascent life should be a concern that transcends party politics.

"I'm sick of hearing this is a Republican issue," said Day Gardner, president of the National Black Pro-Life Union. "For children killed or maimed by abortion, it's a life-and-death issue."

Brent Castillo appears in Opinion on Thursdays. Reach him at bcopinion@gmail.com.