Clinton to Receive Planned Parenthood's Highest Award

By Ethan Cole, Christian Post Reporter Friday, March 27, 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to receive the highest honor given by Planned Parenthood Federation of America Friday evening.

The 2009 Margaret Sanger Award, named after Planned Parenthood's founder, is scheduled to be given to the former New York senator turned most visible American ambassador at a dinner reception in Houston.

Social conservatives and pro-life activists find the award troubling because it is named after a noted eugenicist and is given by the nation's largest abortion provider.

"To many, it reinforces the strong alliance between the Obama administration and the radical pro-abortion crowd," wrote Family Research Council President Tony Perkins in an e-mail newsletter sent out Thursday.

Pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List went further by highlighting that Sanger advocated for "a superior race that was free of poor, immigrant, and minority citizens" and spoke at a rally of the Ku Klux Klan.

"If Secretary Clinton were fully aware of the eugenicist past of Margaret Sanger, I cannot believe that she would be accepting an award in her name. It is in fact shocking that the award still bear's Sanger's name," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List.

She added, "Planned Parenthood Federation of America needs to be very careful to steer clear of any appearance of adhering to Sanger's pro-eugenics philosophy. And this ought to begin by renaming their highest award."

FRC's Perkins criticized Planned Parenthood's "long campaign to promote abortion on request," promotion of "sexual libertinism" and eugenics as the "worst foreign policy message our nation could send."