I’ve been an advocate for Planned Parenthood for most of my adult life. That support came from a core belief I still hold: women must have control over their own bodies — not the government, not partners, not parents. That’s why I’ve always been pro‑choice. Even if I don’t agree with another woman’s decision, I would never stand in her way. Bodily autonomy matters.
But as I’ve been researching and reading more historical accounts, I’ve come across something deeply troubling. Planned Parenthood was involved in the early birth‑control pill trials conducted in Puerto Rico in the 1950s. These trials were carried out on Puerto Rican women without proper informed consent. Many women were not told they were part of an experiment, and others were pressured into participating. The U.S. government and researchers used the island as a testing ground for medications they were not yet willing to test on white American women. The impact on those women — especially those who wanted children — was profound.
Learning this has forced me to reevaluate my support. While the mass sterilization program in Puerto Rico was run by the government and not by Planned Parenthood, the organization’s involvement in the unethical pill trials is still something I can’t ignore. Because of that, I’ve decided I can no longer support Planned Parenthood financially, and I’ll be removing them from my list of charities.
There’s a short story of mine in an anthology that was originally intended to support Planned Parenthood, and it will remain there because removing it would affect other authors. But moving forward, the second charity book I planned to release next year will be assigned to a different organization.
That’s all.
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