Margaret Sanger On Abortion

Margaret Higgins Sanger believed that abortion should be the choice of female. She started the first birth control clinic of the United States in 1916. She was an activist for women and fought hard for their right to give birth when they decide to so they can lead healthier lives verses being told they cannot have abortions when they get have a baby. She was in the forefront for women rights, when it comes to women right to choose when they want to give birth through her books, writings, speeches and her nursing skills.

She was born September14, 1879 in Coruing, New York, she was the sixth of eleven children who survived her mother 18 pregnancies in 22 years. Her mother died at 49 years old and Margaret spent most of her younger

years taking care of her younger brother and sisters with help of her two older sisters. As a young adult Margaret went to Claverack College and Hudson River Institute. She then went to White Plains Hospital as a nurse Probationer. She decided to stop her education after she met and married her husband. They had three children and lived a nice quiet life in Westchester N.Y.
She became a writer, nurse, social reformer, sex educator and an activist. She has several writings and a book Family Limitation which caused her to be prosecuted under the Comstock Act in 1914. In the fight against Comstock we find in the article (Murphree, 2013) “Despite Comstock’s efforts to link birth control and sexuality with obscenity, Sanger and her friends in these New York–based movements enjoyed some legislative and judicial victories starting in 1915 (incidentally, the year of Comstock’s death), starting with a federal court decision stating that a doctor could recommend an abortion when the health of a woman was endangered.” She left the U.S. for Britain out of fear of what would happen to her next and stayed there until she
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was sure it was safe to return to the U.S. In 1916 she opened the first birth control clinic in our country, which led to another arrest for relaying the information on contraception. She opened a clinic in Harlem, NY with an all-black staff. She also organized the first birth control clinic with all female doctors. In 1921 she started what we now know as Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which was formerly known as American Birth Control League. She later created the National committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control.
In the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century it was difficult for women to have free speech.

Women was still considered as homemakers which should stay at home have babies and keep house. It was out of place for women and activists to be discussing women rights as far as birth control rights. Margaret was so adamant because she had helped many women give birth and seen firsthand the struggle they were going through. She expressed how are all babies are not wanted when the get here. Some women are too poor and would like to make the choice of when they have a child. Others were handicapped or the children was born handicapped. In the article by (Bone, 2010) “Margaret Sänger, for example, used a variety of media to express her ideas, both publicly and privately, on the topic of birth control. During her early advocacy years, Sänger incorporated a variety of rhetorical tactics to persuade her audience to participate in the birth control movement; however, she relied on one primary tactic to begin the private discussion of family planning: storytelling. Sanger's stories of real and hypothetical situations helped shift the conversation of contraception from the subaltern counterpublic, through the counterpublic, and eventually into the public sphere.” In those days it just wasn’t acceptable for women to be what they considered radical. Women was held down by the government, male counterparts, society and cultural. She believed all women should have the right to

choose when they are to
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have children and she especially wanted to help the less fortunate. Her passion was to get these women the information they need about their rights and to some educate them about rights they did not know they had. It was not proper then to talk about other people personal affairs.
She fought hard against these bias opinions through books she written, passing out literature, writing articles and many speeches. She had to overcome many obstacles such as government, Comstock Laws, policemen, cultural acceptance and prison. She filed many appeals in order for her to get the word out to women. In the article by (Wilson, 2013) “She and the movement can be justifiably elided: Sanger, to a large extent, was the movement in America. Although she had rivals for leadership of the birth control movement, Sanger and her life story became the most prominent representations of it. Indeed, the general public came to see Sanger as equivalent to the movement; she even received letters addressed to “Mrs. Birth Control” Through her guts and sacrifices to fight the system at that time she was able to change the way America thinks and is one of the main reasons, if not the main reason why women has rights to choose when they would have a child. They now have the choice of abortions, contraceptives, condoms and other means to control when they give birth to children.
She fought against all odds to rise to international prominence. She not only changed the way America viewed women rights, but many parts of the world. Her contributions are credited for where we are today in society. In the article (Bynum, 2011) “Despite these difficulties, Sanger believed that women deserved help in limiting their family sizes. From a small campaign to open a clinic to the international organizations that she helped to create, the legality and availability of birth control were her abiding passions. This brought her into confrontation with the law (including time in jail), the Catholic Church and politicians. She also had frequent contact with
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physicians, and the peculiarities of US society in the early twentieth century meant that she needed them to run her clinics.” She fought for the freedom women are enjoying today.

She has been credited by many awards and even today has an award named after her given to individuals of distinction whom are still furthering her work for reproductive leadership and reproductive health. It came with a lot of sacrifice and even going to jail for a period of time for what she believed in. She gave her life experiences for a greater good to help other women. Today she is still credited for being a pioneer in the birth control laws in the United States. In those times her fight helped and encouraged women to be more independent and express their rights. The first key was for them to know their rights and through her efforts to educate and guide people in the direction that women have these rights is a brilliant act of kindness and humanitarian. Planned parenthood movement is upon us in the twentieth century. Planned parenthood today according to (planned parenthood, 2015) “It provides support for the health, education, and advocacy missions of its 61 affiliates nationwide, which operate approximately 700 health centers in almost every state. Each year, Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers provide health care including routine gynecological exams, breast and cervical cancer screenings, contraceptive services, abortion care, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment,

and HIV testing and education to three million women, men, and adolescents. ONE IN FIVE American women visits a Planned Parenthood health center sometime during her lifetime.”
Margaret Higgins Sanger fought the ultimate fight for women rights. She fought for them to have the right to choose when they are going to bare children. She fought for their quality of life as we know it today. She introduced to many women through education from her books, writings, speeches and her nursing skills. She done many volunteer births and was an advocate
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for the poor and less fortunate as much as the rich. She started the first birth control center in the United States in 1916 and is credited for our Planned Parenthood organization today.
And to all things planned and parenthood, we owe Margaret Higgins Sanger.