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Entry: Margaret Sanger and the Eugenics Meme Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/margaret_sanger_and_the_eugenics_meme#24547 Post contents: @SK: And yet this post, unlike Marcus's previous post on abortion, is not about racism, but about eugenics. The reason it is silly to scream "racism" at supporters of abortion is because there is a logical difference between the two. Pro-lifers are, in fact, wrong (or at least silly) to rely on the rhetoric of anti-racism as a primary tool in the fight against abortion (even if the tool is just rhetorical). In this case, however, that logic doesn't apply. Planned Parenthood was founded and exists today <i>because of Sanger's eugenicist views</i>. To say that pro-lifers should not point out such things because "the guilt by eugenics argument is not restricted to abortion" is ridiculous. Why should it matter to us that "Discussions of affirmative action, immigration, and even tax cuts are inevitably attacked by liberals as the product of eugenic thinking"? If we know that they aren't, then we should have trouble attacking true eugenicists while still talking about such things. The only reason this becomes a problem for those engaged in such discussion is if the liberals are right--if they, like Margaret Sanger, are making arguments that are ultimately based on eugenics. But unless Marcus is claiming that that is what he is doing, he shouldn't be overly concerned if those who stand against abortion discuss the historical roots of Planned Parenthood--roots that the current organization has never renounced. Sent at: 2008 10 07