During the closing panel of the 2006 History of the World Mega-Conference, the faculty was asked the question: Who are the five most dangerous men of the 20th Century?

The unanimous opinion was this: Margaret Sanger was the single most dangerous woman and one of the five most dangerous individuals of the 20th century. The founder of Planned Parenthood and the architect of the birth control movement, Sanger’s vision was viewed as radical when it first appeared, but today many of the basic theses advocated by Sanger have been accepted by nations, courts, mainstream America, and even by professing Christians. Though it would be irresponsible to pin the culpability for the death of the unborn (through abortion and birth control) on one person, Sanger’s influence was so significant that she probably carries more personal responsibility for the death of untold billions than any other individual.

To her general followers, Sanger was a winsome proponent of reasonable freedom for women. She was the woman who would deliver them from the bondage of childbirth, Christianity, and patriarchy. She sought to present herself as an advocate of science, enlightenment, and liberation. In point of fact, she was a virulent bigot, and the mastermind of a movement to advance the agenda of feminism, racism, and eugenics. Her efforts to advance the goal of sexual freedom from the bondage of traditional morality became a reality during the 1960s, at about the same time that “the Pill” was introduced and widely distributed through society.

Sanger Believed that Birth Control Would Create a New “Race.”

“When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become the foundation of a new race.” Margaret Sanger

Sanger Was At War With Life

“The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” Margaret Sanger (editor) “The Woman Rebel,” Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.

Sanger Attempted to Use Christianity to Manipulate the Very Black Americans She Hoped to Ultimately Eliminate Through Modern Eugenics

“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 don’t 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.” Margaret Sanger’s December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. Original source: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. Also described in Linda Gordon’s Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1976.

Sanger Opposed Charity Because It Kept Undesireables Alive

“Organized charity itself is the symptom of a malignant social disease. Those vast, complex, interrelated organizations aiming to control and to diminish the spread of misery and destitution and all the menacing evils that spring of this sinisterly fertile soil are the surest sign that our civilization has bred, is breeding and is perpetuating constantly increasing numbers of defectives, delinquents, and dependents. My criticism is not directed at the failure of philanthropy, but rather at its success. The most serious charge that can be brought against modern benevolence is that it encourages the perpetuation of defectives, delinquents, and dependents. These are the most dangerous elements in the world community, the most devastating curse on human progress and expression.” Margaret Sanger, The Pivot of Civilization, 1922

Ironically, Margaret Sanger’s vision continues through her own “genetically acceptable” line, precisely because she did have a child of her own. That child had a child and that child is Alexander C. Sanger, the author of Beyond Choice: Reproductive Freedom in the 21st Century. Mr. Sanger is Chair of the International Planned Parenthood Council and has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund. You can see him despairing about Christianity and patriarchy in his blog entry entitled South Dakota Mon Amour.