FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 27, 2015
Contact: Mallory Quigley, [email protected], 703-380-6674
Susan B. Anthony List President: “Museums should certainly tell Sanger’s story – but not give her glory.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This morning at 10:00 AM, Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) president Marjorie Dannenfelser joins African American pastors and national pro-life leaders outside the National Portrait Gallery to call for the removal of the Margaret Sanger bust from gallery’s “Struggle for Justice” exhibit. Margaret Sanger, the founder of America’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, was a racist eugenicist.
SBA List is a national network of more than 365,000 individuals seeking to increase the number of pro-life women in elected office and to advance legislation that protects women and enshrines in law the right to life of their unborn sons and daughters.
Prepared remarks from Marjorie Dannenfelser:
It is an honor to stand here with these religious leaders and other longtime champions in the pro-life movement; and to call for the removal of the Margaret Sanger bust from the “Struggles for Justice” exhibit.
Sanger’s legacy is one of hurt, division, and death. An untold number of boys and girls have lost their lives at the hands of Planned Parenthood abortionists throughout the last half century. In the last three years alone, nearly one million American boys and girls have died brutal deaths in Planned Parenthood facilities and that many mothers wounded. And those gathered here know too well the disproportionate impact Margaret Sanger’s abortion enterprise has had on the African American population in our country.
The “Struggles for Justice” exhibit ought to be reserved for true champions of human rights. Margaret Sanger, a racist eugenicist who called the poor, the disabled, those of lower intelligence and minorities ‘human weeds,’ and ‘choking human undergrowth’ to be cleared out, does not belong in this hall of heroes. It’s as plain and simple as that.
Over the last few weeks, America’s eyes have been opened to the brutality Planned Parenthood continues to inflict on the vulnerable. Graphic undercover videos have revealed Planned Parenthood’s practice of harvesting and vivisecting unborn children and then profiting off of their organs. Those who have honored Sanger and those politicians and journalists who have been in turn received accolades from her abortion enterprise should now think twice about holding on to those awards.
We encourage the National Portrait Gallery now to also think twice. Museums should certainly tell Sanger’s story – but not give her glory. Eugenics was not a mere tactic for Margaret Sanger; it was the masthead of her cause. If the Gallery truly endeavors to honor heroes who fought and struggled for the sake of justice, they ought to look to our namesake, Susan B. Anthony, and her longtime friend and compatriot, Frederick Douglass. These human rights leaders recognized the direct link between abolition and women’s suffrage and worked closely for years towards achieving both of these goals. It is time to correct the historical record and ensure Americans see the whole truth about Sanger and the enterprise she founded.
More than 11,000 people have signed a petition calling for the removal of Sanger’s bust from the National Portrait Gallery. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the first Republican Presidential hopeful to support the effort, and Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) have written a “Dear Colleague” letter asking their fellow elected representatives to join the cause.
The Susan B. Anthony List and its Political Action Committees, the SBA List Candidate Fund and Women Speak Out PAC, spent $15.25 million in the 2014 election cycle to defeat pro-abortion incumbents and elect pro-life candidates to federal and statewide office. The SBA List is dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List emphasizes the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women. The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.
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