Birth Control Movement : Margaret Sanger

Margaret Louise Higgins, who later became Margaret Higgins Sange, was born on September 14, 1879 In Corning, New York. She was a birth control activist,nurse, and sex educator. Margaret’s parents were Michael Hennessey Higgins, an Irish stonemason and Anna Purcell a catholic Irish-American. Margaret’s mother Anne and her family immigrated to canada when she was young. Margaret’s father Michael moved to America and enlisted into the US army during the Civil War at the age of15. Margaret’s father was also a catholic turned atheist and also an activist for woman’s suffrage. Anne Higgins went through 18 pregnancies and only 11 of her children were born alive. Margaret was the sixth child of eleven. She spent a lot of her childhood years helping with household chores and also had the responsibility of caring for her younger siblings.

Margaret Sanger was a crusader who took a stand against the Comstock Law through civil disobedience in order to legalize and create efficient contraceptives for women in the 1930’s. Sanger advocated for women's reproductive rights by taking a stand against the unjust laws by pursuing the court case, United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries. Sanger and her assistant, Dr. Hannah Stone committed an act of civil disobedience by importing contraceptives overseas. Sanger and Stone’s significant stand ultimately legalized birth control due to the fact that the government could not cease the usage of birth control if it was prescribed by a doctor. Furthermore, it became possible for doctors to prescribe birth control to their patients, effectively

Margaret Sanger, an active reproductive rights reformist and the mother of what we now know to be Planned Parenthood, grew up the sixth child of eleven in an Irish-American family in New York. Sanger witnessed her mother go through multiple miscarriages, leaving her concerned for her mother’s health. She later studied nursing at a variety of colleges. Sanger moved to New York City in the early twentieth century, taking her husband, William Sanger, and three children with her. Radical politics were growing popular in the area where they lived, changing the young couple’s mindset. Sanger later got involved in the Women’s Committee of the New York Socialist Party and Liberal Club.

Margaret Sanger, a birth control activist. Born on September 14, 1879 Sanger was one of eleven children born (National Women’s History Museum). Other than the children born, Sanger’s mother had seven miscarriages (National Women’s History Museum). Sanger’s family lived in poverty as Sanger’s father preferred to drink and talk politics than keep a steady job (National Women’s History Museum). When Sanger was 19 Sanger’s mother died of Tuberculosis (National Women’s History Museum). Over

Margaret Sanger was a very involved woman. Her mother had a total of 18 pregnancies and died at the young age of 50. Sanger was one of the 11 children. As Sanger got older she established the first birth control clinic. Sanger is a hero because she left her nursing career to devote herself to the cause of birth control, She founded Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and first thought of creating the birth control pill that many women use today, All to support her main fight for reproduction rights.

Margaret Sanger was born September 14, 1879 in Corning, New York. She moved to Greenwich, Village in 1910 where she started promoting Women’s Rights to Birth Control. In 1911 she became heavily influenced and moved to New York City where she joined and participated in radical groups and became a socialist, labor activist, and anarchist. She published her first paper which was “The Women Rebel and provided information on birth control and issues that were going on in the world. Margaret opened her first Birth Control clinic in 1916 which was located in Brownsville, New York. But, the clinic didn’t last for only a month because she was charged with public nuisance and was sentenced thirty days in prison. But, that didn’t stopped Sanger from

Margaret Sanger was, at large, a birth control activist, but this speech was more about the questioning of birth control corrupting morality in women. People must remember, in the day and age

"A free race cannot be born" and no woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother"(Sanger A 35). Margaret Sanger (1870-1966)said this in one of her many controversial papers. The name of Margaret Sanger and the issue of birth control have virtually become synonymous. Birth control and the work of Sanger have done a great deal to change the role of woman in society, relationships between men and woman, and the family. The development and spread of knowledge of birth control gave women sexual freedom for the first time, gave them an individual

Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement highlighted a variety of important issues. These issues include women’s right to make decisions privately versus the right of a community to regulate moral behavior; the ethnic demographics of the American people; the ability of women to control their own physical destinies by limiting family size; and the idea that small families were the way to keep the American dream alive. The debate over birth control spoke to personal and political issues, which poses the question: Was birth control merely a matter of individual choice, or was it about power, wealth, opportunity and similar issues? Birth control was not merely a technique to expand the realm of personal freedom; it grew out of a radical

Imagine being a married woman in your 30’s during the beginning of the twentieth century. You are worn out from giving birth multiple times and you are desperate to know of a way to prevent yourself from having more children. This was the exact case for millions of women in the twentieth century. Women had no rights as a person, nor did they have any rights to their own bodies. In this era, the topics of sexuality, sex and birth control were all taboo subject matters and never discussed between married or unmarried couples. It wasn’t until the year of 1912 that a woman by the name of Margaret Sanger started her crusade to promote the right for women to use contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies. In this essay, I will discuss what inspired Margaret Sanger to stand up for birth control rights. I will also explore the trials and legal issues that Sanger came up against. Lastly, I will talk about the victory and the difference Sanger made for women in the twentieth century. Sanger dedicated her life and career to legalizing contraceptives all across the United States. She wanted all woman to have the freedom to decide whether or not they wanted children.

Today, the availability of birth control is taken for granted. There was a time, not long passed, during which the subject was illegal (“Margaret Sanger,” 2013, p.1). That did not stop the resilient leader of the birth control movement. Margaret Sanger was a nurse and women’s activist. While working as a nurse, Sanger treated many women who had suffered from unsafe abortions or tried to self-induce abortion (p.1). Seeing this devastation and noting that it was mainly low income women suffering from these problems, she was inspired to dedicate her life to educating women on family planning—even though the discussion of which was highly illegal at the time (p.1). She was often in trouble with

The Birth Control Movement of 1912 in the United States had a significant impact on Women’s Reproductive Rights. Women in the 1800s would frequently die or have complications during or after childbirth. Even if the woman would have died, they would still have a great amount of children. As the years progressed into the 1900s, the amount of children being born dropped. Because of this, birth control supplements were banned, forcing women to have a child that she was not prepared for or did not want to have in the first place.

Society today often takes the simple rights they have for granted. They don’t realize that everything they have now is because of so many activists in the past fought for those rights; forgetful rights that without their sacrifices people wouldn’t have the freedom we have today. The birth control pill was one of these rights that so many advocates fought for and died before they could see the battle that they struggled and gave up everything for, come to an end.

Birth control came about from women who were obligated to have families and not letting it be a choice. Many women have heard about contraceptives that are advertised on tv, magazines, and even from a family doctor. Women knew very little of what birth control could do or even prevent. Women thought that just by taking birth control it could prevent pregnancy. They were not well informed that all body

Another issue that the Women's Rights Movement undertook was women's reproductive rights. In early 19th century American society, a husband could legally demand sexual intercourse from his wife, even if she didn't consent. Because of this, the issue of birth control began to surface among women activists. Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman started advocating birth control in the 1920s. The American Birth Control League, which would later become the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, was founded in 1921. Throughout the 1900s, birth control would remain an important issue in the Women's