Margaret Sanger: Difference between revisions

Sanger used her writings and speeches primarily to promote her way of thinking. She was prosecuted for her book ''Family Limitation'' under the [[Comstock Act]] in 1914. She feared the consequences of her writings, so she fled to Britain until public opinion had quieted.<ref name="Douglas 1970 57">{{cite book|last=Douglas|first=Emily|title=Margaret Sanger: Pioneer of the Future|year=1970|publisher=Holt, Rinehart, and Winston|location=Canada|page=57}}</ref> Sanger's efforts contributed to several judicial cases that helped legalize contraception in the United States.<ref name="Benjamin 1938">{{Cite journal|last=Benjamin|first=Hazel C.|date=January 1, 1938|title=Lobbying for Birth Control|jstor=2745054|journal=The Public Opinion Quarterly|volume=2|issue=1|pages=48–60|doi=10.1086/265152}}</ref> Due to her connection with Planned Parenthood, Sanger is frequently criticized by [[opponents of abortion]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Cooper|first=Melinda|date=January 20, 2023|title=The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Ghost of Margaret Sanger |url=https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-anti-abortion-movement-and-the-ghost-of-margaret-sanger |access-date=January 20, 2023 |magazine=Dissent|issue=Winter 2023}}</ref> Sanger drew a sharp distinction between birth control and abortion, and was opposed to abortions throughout the bulk of her professional career, declining to participate in them as a nurse. <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/9214/7612/8734/Sanger_Fact_Sheet_Oct_2016.pdf |title=Margaret Sanger — Our Founder |date=2016 |website=[[Planned Parenthood]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002192555/https://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/9214/7612/8734/Sanger_Fact_Sheet_Oct_2016.pdf |archive-date=October 2, 2019}}</ref> Sanger remains a prominent figure in the American [[reproductive rights]] and [[Feminist movement|feminist]] movements.<ref name="New York Times" /> Sanger has been criticized for supporting [[eugenics]], including negative eugenics that discriminated based on race and mental or physical disability.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-21 |title=Margaret Sanger: Ambitious Feminist and Racist Eugenicist |url=https://womanisrational.uchicago.edu/2022/09/21/margaret-sanger-the-duality-of-a-ambitious-feminist-and-racist-eugenicist/ |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=Woman is a Rational Animal |language=en-US}}</ref> Some historians believe her support of negative eugenics, a popular stance at that time, was a rhetorical tool rather than a personal conviction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eugenics and Birth Control {{!}} American Experience {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-eugenics-and-birth-control/ |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=www.pbs.org |language=en}}</ref> In 2020, Planned Parenthood disavowed Sanger, citing her past record with eugenics and racism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stewart |first=Nikita |date=July 21, 2020 |title=Planned Parenthood in N.Y. disavows Margaret Sanger over Eugenics. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/nyregion/planned-parenthood-margaret-sanger-eugenics.html |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Planned Parenthood's Reckoning with Margaret Sanger |url=https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-pacific-southwest/blog/planned-parenthoods-reckoning-with-margaret-sanger |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=www.plannedparenthood.org |language=en}}</ref>

In 1921, Sanger founded the [[American Birth Control League]], which later became the [[Planned Parenthood|Planned Parenthood Federation of America]]. In New York City, she organized the first birth control clinic to be staffed by all-female doctors, as well as a clinic in [[Harlem]] which had an all [[African-American]] advisory council,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nyu.edu/pages/projects/sanger/articles/harlem.php|title=Looking Uptown: Margaret Sanger and the Harlem Branch Birth Control Clinic|last=Wangui Muigai|date=Spring 2010|work=The Newsletter|publisher=The Margaret Sanger Papers Project|issue=#54}}</ref> where African-American staff was later added.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eIITCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA137|title=Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women's Activism, 1890–1940|last=Klapper|first=Melissa R.|date= 2014|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-1479850594|pages=137–138|language=en}}</ref> In 1929, she formed the [[National Committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control]], which served as the focal point of her lobbying efforts to legalize contraception in the United States. From 1952 to 1959, Sanger served as president of the [[International Planned Parenthood Federation]]. She died in 1966 and is widely regarded as a founder of the modern birth control movement, just four years before abortion was first offered at a Planned Parenthood facility. <ref name="Benjamin 1938" />