Margaret Sanger’s Planned Parenthood Essay - 1071 Words

Margaret Sanger’s Planned Parenthood During a time in which white supremacy was being challenged by an ever-increasing African population, a woman named Margaret Sanger â€Å"sought to purify America’s breeding stock and purge America’s bad stains† (Planned Parenthood). She set out to establish the American Birth Control League, which eventually became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). Sanger’s actions provoked much controversy because at the time not only was contraception illegal in the United States, but it was denounced by almost every major religious denomination (Contraception History). Margaret Sanger set out on a mission to overcome first the church and then the state in order to â€Å"stop bringing to†¦show more content†¦Because of the Comstock Law of 1873, the mailing of information regarding contraception or devices to perform contraceptive techniques was prohibited. This was a major obstacle for Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood. As a result of the 1936 court case U.S. v. One Package, the mailing of contraceptive-related materials among physicians was legalized (Planned Parenthood). This turning point signified that contraceptives were finally beginning to be regarded as an important area of medicine. The mailing of contraceptive material to married couples and single adults was not legalized until 1965 and 1972 respectively (Contraception History). The government continued to liberalize its other policies regarding contraception as a result of Sanger’s influence. Margaret Sanger’s hard work to legalize and promote contraception was rooted in her belief that those who were impoverished should not procreate. In her book My Fight for Birth Control, Sanger claims, â€Å"I associate poverty, toil, unemployment, drunkenness, cruelty, quarreling, fighting, debts, and jails with large families† (Planned Parenthood). Sanger set out to â€Å"sterilize the unfit† and make known methods to control the population (Planned Parenthood). Many of her colleagues were racist and believed contraception should be used for the purpose of maintainingShow MoreRelatedMargaret Sanger s Revolution For Women s Rights1716 Words   |  7 PagesMargaret Sanger’s Revolution for Women’s Rights Today the world’s population consists of more than seven billion people living on Earth, half of which are of men and the other half women. Now imagine living in a world where those seven billion people didn’t have rights connected to their own bodies. In the field of reproductive rights, imagine if there was no form of contraceptives, birth control, or any type of sexual education information to the public. The world would be in shambles being over-populatedRead MoreEugenics and Planned Parenthood Essay1405 Words   |  6 Pagesthe perfect class of men; elite in all ways. 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With Margaret Sanger’s efforts, birth-control awareness became accepted by the people and the legal system, changing the lives of countless women in th eir fight towards equal opportunity. She changed the way that childbearing was viewed in America and paved a road that led to gender equality. Limited knowledge of contraceptives caused great suffering for women during Margaret Sanger’s childhood. Starting from 1873, a law called the Comstock ActRead MoreMargaret Sanger s The Prevention Of African American Births1802 Words   |  8 PagesMargaret Sanger: Did her support in the Reproductive Rights Movement include support of the prevention of African-American births? Student name: Nikole McLeish Candidate Number : 0000000000 Word Count: 1905 Part A: Plan of Investigation Margaret Sanger: Did her support in the Reproductive Rights Movement include support of the prevention of African-American births? In this investigation, the aim is to analyze Margaret Sanger during her reign as a birth control activist to determine whetherRead MoreMargaret Sanger : A Birth Control Activist1508 Words   |  7 PagesMargaret Sanger was not only a birth control activist, she was also an author, a nurse and a sex educator and many of her influences for being an activist come from her family. Born on September 14, 1879, in Corning, New York, she was the sixth of eleven children born into a poor Roman Catholic family (Sanger 14). Her mother had various miscarriages, which Sanger believed affected her mother’s health, and was a devoted Roman Catholic who believed one should conform to the rules while her father was