An excerpt of this piece was published in American Thinker on May 6, 2016, under the title, "Unions and Planned Parenthood: A Love Story."  To read the article, click here.

In July 2015, The Center for Medical Progress, a non-profit group composed of citizen journalists, began releasing videos under the Human Capital Project.  The project’s footage featured Planned Parenthood executives discussing human tissue sales, which reignited the abortion debate in the U.S. 

The videos were controversial.  A simple Google search of ‘Planned Parenthood video’ produces 17.5 million results today.  And as of October 2015, Planned Parenthood declared that affiliates would no longer receive reimbursement payments for tissue.  

The videos gave conservative Americans an opportunity to denounce the non-profit.  Some in the pro-life movement, like House Speaker Paul Ryan, have called for the end of government funding.  In 2014, Planned Parenthood received taxpayers’ dollars, in the form of government grants and reimbursements, which amounted to $1.5 million per day. 

But there’s one other source of Planned Parenthood’s funding that is never mentioned in the conversation.  That source has been one of Planned Parenthood’s biggest allies from the beginning.

Unions.

Margaret Sanger: the Woman, the Myth, the Legend

Margaret Sanger was a controversial woman. 

Born in September 1879 to Irish parents, Sanger absorbed her father’s radical ideas at a young age.  In her autobiography, Sanger described her father, Michael Higgins, as a “non-conformist” who “took up Socialism.” 

Sanger’s mother, Anne Higgins, suffered seven miscarriages before ultimately passing away from tuberculosis.  In 1902, Sanger became a nurse practitioner in New York City, perhaps as a response to her mother’s troubled health.  While in New York, she joined the Women’s Committee of the New York Socialist Party, and was active in protests and demonstrations.

Sanger became a pioneer of sex education.  Between 1912 and 1913, she published multiple articles for the New York Call, a Socialist Party of America news affiliate.  One of the articles, entitled, “What Every Girl Should Know: Sexual Impulse Part 1,” covered various topics, such as sexuality, adolescence and even infant masturbation.

After she sent condoms through the mail, Sanger was accused of obscenity and over the years, she was arrested several times.  Charged with public nuisance, her opening and re-opening family planning clinics in Brooklyn resulted in a 30-day stint in jail. 

The controversy surrounding Sanger continued throughout her life, as she habitually published incendiary works.  According to a list compiled by the Daily Signal’s Kate Scanlon, Sanger’s advocacy ranged from population control and eugenics to segregation and sterilization.  In her 1920 book, Woman and the New Race, Sanger writes:

By all means, there should be no children when either mother of father suffers from such diseases as tuberculosis, gonorrhea, syphilis, cancer, epilepsy, insanity, drunkenness and mental disorders… no more children should be born when the parents, though healthy themselves, find that their children are physically or mentally defective.

Woman and the New Race in Science and Invention (January 1922).

By Sanger’s own logic, her mother’s bout of tuberculosis should have prevented Sanger from ever being born.

In 1921, Sanger founded the American Birth Control League, where she served as president for the next seven years.  The League was created to educate individuals as well as medical professionals and government officials nationwide.  In New York, the ABCL opened birth control clinics that offered contraceptives and education, including their research on what they termed “reckless breeding.”  Twenty-one years after its conception, in 1942, the ABCL had merged with another group to create the Birth Control Federation of America (BCFA) and changed its name to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. 

Although Sanger passed away in 1966, her influence extends into the 21st Century.  In fact, Time Magazine ranked her tenth in their list of 20 Most Influential Americans of All Time in 2012. 

Sanger definitely left her mark on history -- a mark stained with racial hate, socialism and anger.  So devoted to her mission, her family suffered. The Pill, a PBS film, has an online resource that recounts, “Sanger’s anger turned into militancy, and her family took a backseat to her crusade.”  Sanger’s marriage to her first husband, William, fell apart while she suffered from tuberculosis following her first pregnancy.  Sanger crusaded for reproductive reform, even as her family life crumbled following her two extramarital affairs and the death of the four-year-old daughter she admitted to neglecting.

One thing Sanger did love though, was Big Labor. 

The Beginning of an Ugly Friendship

Sanger’s earliest involvement with the union movement was her alliance with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a labor organization co-founded by William “Big Bill” Haywood.  Haywood became a national speaker for the Socialist Party following his arrest on a labor-related murder charge in 1911.  A close friend of Sanger, he was christened “America’s most radical labor leader” by University of Missouri legal expert, Professor Douglas O. Linder.

Among the IWW’s co-founders were Daniel De Leon, a member of the Socialist Party, and Eugene V. Debs, five-time Socialist Party presidential candidate.

Stickerette produced by the IWW in 1919. 

Sanger’s lifelong relationship with the IWW involved her participation in various strikes along the East Coast.  In 1918, she wrote an article entitled, “Let’s Have the Truth,” where she effectively solicited “socially conscious persons” to contribute $50,000 to defend the IWW, after 100 of its leaders were indicted by a federal grand jury in Chicago for espionage, advocating draft evasion and intimidation during WWI.

Sanger’s connection to the radical left extended beyond the streets and into her home.  As National Review senior editor Jonah Goldberg noted in his book Liberal Fascism, Sanger openly admitted, “Our living-room became a gathering place where liberals, anarchists, Socialists and I.W.W.’s could meet.”

Sanger argued that population control was in the best interest of her union leader friends.  Concluding chapter twelve in Woman and the New Race, Sanger noted that workers who have children are only creating more competition for themselves in the workforce:  

[Labor’s] enemy is the reproductive ability of the working class which gluts the channels of progress with the helpless and weak, and stimulates the tyrants of the world in their oppression of mankind.

Sanger in Cyber Space

In 2015, Sanger’s creation, Planned Parenthood continues to strengthen and influence.  Now, it’s composed of 59 local affiliates across all 50 states and the District of Colombia.  What started out as a single clinic in Brooklyn is now 650 centers offering abortion and healthcare services to men, women and adolescents.

In its 2014-2015 annual report, Planned Parenthood identified 2.5 million individuals as patients in a single year.  Their total assets reached $1.7 billion.

In 1970, 49 years after Margaret Sanger went to jail for it, Planned Parenthood started to receive federal funding.  This funding continues to hotly debated in Congress, primarily because of the abortion services.  Planned Parenthood’s annual report notes that the 323,999 abortions performed in 2014 alone accounted for three percent of the services offered, such as “breast care” (commonly misconstrued as licensed mammograms) and sexually transmitted infection testing.   

In addition to their affiliate services and political spending, Planned Parenthood battles in the legislative arena.  Planned Parenthood fought insurance companies over copays for birth control, thanks to Obama’s union-backed baby, the Affordable Care Act.  

Pictured above: Obama's Affordable Care Act supporters protest.

 But Planned Parenthood’s impact is not limited to the United States.  Its international division extends to 13 countries across Africa and Latin America. 

Sanger’s legacy has spread to a world where Internet is king.  Planned Parenthood has a strong online presence with a recorded 60 millions hits to their website and, as of April 2016, their Twitter account boasted over 205 thousand followers. “I Stand with PP” is a viral online marketing campaign that provides various ways for supporters to actively brand themselves with the abortion provider. 

Individuals can identify as supporters by using hashtags, signing a petition and altering their pictures with a Planned Parenthood layout.  They can share the site’s resources too, including blog posts with mission updates and patient testimonials.  Visitors also have the option to sign a virtual, personalized thank you card to Planned Parenthood’s staff.

The campaign’s purpose is to elicit and provide a public platform to announce support of Sanger’s cause.  But this support does not just stem from your friends on Facebook and celebrities on Twitter.  Labor unions have made it very clear; they stand with PP, too. 

The “Supporters” page on the “I Stand with PP” site names over 260 groups.  Fourteen spots on that progressive list belong to labor organizations.  AFSCME, AFL-CIO, AFT, the NEA and SEIU are some of the more recognizable members of the in-crowd but the list also includes others, such as the Amalgamated Transit Union, Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers. 

"I Stand With PP" protestors outside The Capitol.

The Ties that Bind

In 2006, Cecile Richards took over as president of Planned Parenthood, beginning a new era of allegiance to labor.

Like Sanger before her, Cecile Richards is no stranger to labor and radical left-wing allies.  In 2012, she was the keynote speaker at the United Auto Workers (UAW)’s National Community Action Legislative Conference.  Her Ford Foundation biography, where she is identified as a trustee, states, “Richards began her career organizing low-wage workers in the hotel, health care, and janitorial industries throughout California, Louisiana, and Texas.”  Before being thrust into the spotlight as head of Planned Parenthood, she also served as the deputy chief of staff for California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D). 

Click the photo of Cecile Richards above to see the first part of her address to the UAW's 2012 CAP Conference. 

Without even considering her vocal support of Planned Parenthood, Representative Pelosi’s strong connections to labor would be enough to make Sanger proud.  Of the top twenty contributors to Pelosi’s 2015 campaign, eleven were unions.  Together, those unions gave $105,000 in just one year.  Throughout her career, Pelosi has received a total of $2,873,100 from labor organization PACs.

Pelosi works for her enormous union purse.  In addition to publically denouncing anti-abortion advocates’ attempts to expose Planned Parenthood, she also appointed six Democrats to the House Committee tasked with investigating Planned Parenthood’s alleged human tissue sales.

After Richards left Pelosi’s office, she took over as president of America Votes, a Democratic electoral coalition, which cites nine union partners, including the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, and Teamsters.  America Votes was co-founded by Andy Stern, the former SEIU president that CBS called, “the most important labor boss in America.” 

But Richards’ connections with unions extend beyond the exchange of workers’ dollars.  She is married to former SEIU vice president, Kirk Adams. 

The Labor/Planned Parenthood alliance doesn’t stop at holy matrimony, though.  Planned Parenthood’s executive vice president and chief experience officer, Dawn Laugens, has followed suit and created connections with labor accordingly.  Laugens is founder and president of LKK Partners, a corporation that specializes in telecom services for notable clients.  The National Education Association (NEA) is one of those clients.    

According to her LinkedIn profile, Gina Glantz chaired the Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2010 to 2013.  Four years prior to her executive role, Glantz began as an active member in the PAC, while she was still senior advisor to SEIU then-president, Andy Stern.  

Whether it is personal or through personnel, Big Labor and Planned Parenthood share an undeniable bond.  This bond, though, is not a one-way street.  Where Planned Parenthood advances legislation and ideas, unions give generously to their friends in pink. 

Pro-Choice, Anti-Worker

Labor unions have a lot of interests.  They also have a lot of money to spend on those interests.  Some of their funds go towards union officials’ paychecks (just ask the 448 labor bosses who were paid at least $250,000 in 2015 alone).  A lot of money goes towards political activity.  As reported by Open Secrets, labor union PACs make up a third of the all-time top 100 election contributors.

So where does all this money come from?

Much like the federal government, the majority of unions’ revenue comes from individuals who have no choice.  Unions collect worker dollars in the form of membership dues, and in 21 states, agency fees in any unionized workplace.  “Agency fees” are paid by non-members and usually equate to about 77 percent of the members’ dues.  Although they pay a significant portion of dues, non-members in forced-unionized states are not entitled to any representation benefits.  (See the Center for Worker Freedom’s Labor Liberty Indicator for a state-by-state analysis of worker freedom classification)      

The Center for Worker Freedom's 2016 Labor Liberty Indicator.

Luckily for Planned Parenthood, labor unions reach into workers’ pockets and love to share.    

Every year, unions are supposed to provide their financial information to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management and Standards.  These documents, known as LM-2 forms, are technically available for public viewing but are difficult to find… and even more difficult to read. 

According to Bill McMorris of The Washington Free Beacon, Planned Parenthood’s PAC received $400,000 from AFSCME in 2014.  In its 2015 LM-2, AFSCME reported exchanging $174,241 with other “I Stand with PP” organizations.  Nearly two-thirds of that was an AFSCME donation to Pride at Work, a constituency group of the AFL-CIO that has teamed up with Planned Parenthood in a 2015 anti-discrimination coalition letter.

Pride at Work made off pretty well in 2015, as AFT and the AFL-CIO gave a combined $94,000.  Other “I Stand with PP” groups, including the Center for Popular Democracy and the Roosevelt Institute, received a whooping $678,077 from the AFL-CIO the same year.

The National Education Association (NEA), another recognized “I Stand with PP” union, gave generously to other PP-approved organizations.  Their 2015 report included beneficiaries such as People for the American Way, America Votes (of Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards’ former presidency), and the Center for American Progress.  In total, over $2.6 million was exchanged between the NEA and “I Stand with PP” groups.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU)’s 2014 LM-2 exposed nearly $1.5 million going to seventeen “I Stand with PP” list occupants.  The groups, including the Coalition of Labor Union Women and the Center for Community Change Action, received thousands from the union, but more accurately, from workers’ dues.  Included in the $1.5 million was a $20,000 donation labeled “sponsorships.” 

The recipient of said “sponsorships?”  Planned Parenthood.

You Scratch My Back…

In their 2012 990 form, Planned Parenthood listed SEIU as an independent contractor and paid the union $816,847 for “telemarketing” services.  Just a year later, in 2013, Planned Parenthood reported giving SEIU over $1 million for more telemarketing. 

In a 2015 press release SEIU International’s president, Mary Kay Henry, made her gratitude public:

We stand united with our allies at Planned Parenthood, champion of quality healthcare and a cornerstone of vital services… efforts in Congress to de-fund Planned Parenthood by anti-women, anti-choice extremists must be stopped.

SEIU boasts nearly two million members, most of who work in the healthcare industry.  In March 2015, the union joined with Planned Parenthood outside the U.S. Supreme Court in a rally for the Affordable Care Act.  On its blog, SEIU urges workers to “take action in support of Planned Parenthood,” by clicking a link that redirects to the “I Stand with PP” site.

SEIU is not alone.  Along with AFT and AFSCME, they signed a coalition letter to Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell (R) and former Speaker of the House John Boehner (R).  The letter stated that efforts to ban abortion and defund Planned Parenthood are “false claims” and “ideological attacks.” 

At a progressive Netroots Nation conference, AFSCME and Planned Parenthood were featured on the “State Battles 2013: Fighting Together to Block the Right-Wing Agenda” panel.  They partnered together again in 2016 for a Change the Rules panel at the Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference. 

AFL-CIO’s state communications director, Carla Ohringer Engle, could definitely be classified as the abortion-provider’s friend.  Engle is a former Planned Parenthood consultant.  Her boss, AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka, has been also vocal about his opinion on the abortion provider with bold statements such as, “we support its core mission.”

Pictured above: AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka.

The trend of union bosses glorifying Sanger’s creation continues with American Federation of Teachers (AFT)’s president, Randi Weingarten.  In the wake of Republican lawmakers’ attempts to de-fund Planned Parenthood in 2015, Weingarten released a statement:

Planned Parenthood protects women, provides high-quality healthcare and saves lives.  Standing with Planned Parenthood is the right thing to do.

They Stand with HC

The AFT boasts being the first union to endorse Hillary Clinton (D) in the 2016 presidential election.  The union claims to be “actively engaged” in the campaign, and with its $1 million donation to Clinton in 2016, that’s a pretty safe claim to make.

Joined with 25 labor unions, Planned Parenthood chose Hillary for its first-ever presidential endorsement in January 2016.  The PAC even dropped $1.1 million on her campaign.  Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund’s released a statement on their website:

In fact, no other 2016 candidate has shown such strong, lifelong commitment to the issues Planned Parenthood Action Fund cares about… we need Hillary Clinton, women’s health champion, in the White House.

NBC News’ Monica Alba reported Hillary’s appreciation for the endorsement:

I have stood with you throughout my life and certainly throughout my career and I promise you this:  As your president, I will always have your back, Clinton said to a room full of Planned Parenthood supporters wearing bright pink.

But after Clinton stated on April 3, 2016, “the unborn person doesn’t have constitutional rights,” on NBC’s Meet the Press, that support might be faltering.  Diana Arellano, manager of community engagement at Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, took to Twitter to voice her disapproval.

The problem, according to Arellano’s tweets, was Clinton’s recognition of the unborn as a person, rather than the Planned Parenthood-sanctioned term, a fetus.      

With federal funding and union friends in its corner, Clinton might want to be a little more careful when she makes public statements regarding Margaret Sanger’s handiwork.  

Despite the incident, it’s clear that Sanger’s loves, Planned Parenthood and labor, are firmly standing with Hillary Clinton.    

Click the picture above to hear Hillary Clinton's stance on Planned Parenthood, from CBS News (July 24, 2015).

No End in Sight

After an analysis of every Planned Parenthood annual report between 1999 and 2014, The Center for Worker Freedom has uncovered 4.4 million recorded abortions. 

A 2008 report by the Guttmacher Institute, a former Planned Parenthood affiliate, noted that fifty-nine percent of abortions in 2004 were performed on Black and Latino women.  The Institute further confirmed that abortion rates in minority communities are disproportionately high.    

Quite simply, Planned Parenthood’s abortion services have become the bureaucratic embodiment of Margaret Sanger and her prejudices. 

But Planned Parenthood could not have executed its mission so effectively without union spending of, whether they knew it or not, the working class of America’s dollars.