Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger and her two sons.

Margaret Sanger (born: September 14, 1879; died: September 6, 1966) was an American feminist who founded the American Birth Control League. She retired in 1940 and the organization eventually became Planned Parenthood. Her main success was in bringing discussions of Birth Control into the public arena. She argued that a major reason to promote birth control was to stop abortions. She was vigorously denounced by the Catholic Church because of her position on birth control.

Feminism

Sanger argued for woman's liberation from the domination of men. She advocated economic independence and withdrawal from the traditional family unit, particularly marriage. She wrote “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.” (see self-realization).

Birth control activism

Margaret Sanger coined the term "birth control". In October of 1916, Sanger opened and (illegally) operated the first birth control clinic in the United States, in Brooklyn, New York. It was raided by the police, and shut down. Sanger was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment for distributing contraceptives, which were illegal at the time.

Margaret Sanger Award

Planned Parenthood annually gives awards to those who support them and the top award they give is called The Margaret Sanger Award. Alan Guttmacher, who was a President of Planned Parenthood from 1962 to 1974 and who was also former Vice-President of the American Eugenics Society, stated: "We are merely walking down the path that Ms. Sanger has carved out for us." Similarly, Faye Wattleton, who was the president of Planned Parenthood until 1992, stated that she was "proud" to be "walking in the footsteps" of Margaret Sanger.