An official says the change is an ‘overdue step’ and recognizes the organization’s contribution to reproductive harm within communities of color.
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York will remove the name of the national organization’s founder, Margaret Sanger, from a Manhattan clinic in an attempt to reckon with her ties to the eugenics movement, the organization announced Tuesday.
An early feminist activist, Sanger is widely regarded as a pioneer in American reproductive rights. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States more than a century ago, and helped create access to birth control for low-income, minority, and immigrant women. But she was also a vocal supporter of the now-discredited eugenics movement, which aimed to improve the human race through planned breeding based on genetic traits.
“The removal of Margaret Sanger’s name from our building is both a necessary and overdue step to reckon with our legacy and acknowledge Planned Parenthood’s contributions to historical reproductive harm within communities of color,” Karen Seltzer, chair of the board at Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, said in a statement. “Margaret Sanger’s concerns and advocacy for reproductive health have been clearly documented, but so too has her racist legacy.”
The New York chapter, which is one of the largest Planned Parenthood affiliates, also announced it is working to rename an honorary street sign that marks the “Margaret Sanger Square” at the intersection of Bleecker and Mott Streets in Manhattan.
The efforts are the first of many “organizational shifts” to confront Sanger’s legacy and institutional racism more broadly, the chapter said in a statement. Last month, the chapter’s chief executive, Laura McQuade, was ousted from her job after hundreds of former and current employees signed public letters accusing McQuade, who is white, of abusive behavior and a failure to address complaints about systemic racism, pay inequity and a lack of upward mobility for black staff – allegations McQuade denied.
The chapter’s move also comes amid nationwide calls to rename institutions and remove other tributes to racist historical figures in the aftermath of the deaths of George Floyd and other black Americans at the hands of police.
“Planned Parenthood, like many other organizations that have existed for a century or more, is reckoning with our history, and working to address historical inequities to better serve patients and our mission,” Melanie Roussell Newman, senior vice president of communications and culture for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement, commending the New York chapter for its decision.
