Sanger did associate with proponents of eugenics, the philosophy that only the most worthy should be allowed to reproduce. But she did not support coerced birth control; civil rights leaders, including King, embraced her work.
The "Klan Parenthood" fliers in Waco were designed to draw attention to a visit by the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, who is based in Los Angeles. He's one of a small number of black conservatives trying to use the abortion issue to draw African Americans to the Republican Party.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday March 25, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 57 words Type of Material: Correction
Antiabortion efforts: An article in Wednesday's Section A about antiabortion efforts in black communities oversimplified the eugenics views of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger in saying she did not support coerced birth control. Sanger did not support measures to limit the population of minorities through coerced contraception. She did, however, support forced sterilization of the mentally disabled.
That tactic made a splash in the fall elections, when a political action committee run by black radio talk show host Herman Cain poured $1 million into edgy ads on urban radio. One spot contended that Democratic support for abortion laws is "decimating our people." It concluded: "Democrats say they want our vote. Why don't they want our lives?"
Political scientists say such appeals are unlikely to sway many African Americans, who overwhelmingly vote Democrat.
"Crisis pregnancy centers would probably be quite popular as institutions" to give women moral support and free baby gear, said Melissa Harris-Lacewell, an associate professor of African American studies at Princeton University. "But that means almost nothing for the Republican notion of pulling blacks in as morality voters."
In national surveys on race and politics, David Bositis asks blacks an open-ended question: Name your top three concerns for the country.
"I've done 15,000 interviews over the past 15 years, and I doubt if abortion has come up in five of them," said Bositis, a senior analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C.
When he asks African American pastors, they talk about police brutality, elder care, jobs for released convicts. "Their agenda is not the same kind of moral agenda you often get with white churches," Bositis said. "Abortion doesn't show up."
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stephanie.simon@latimes.com
