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Margaret SangerAmerican nurse, educator, and birth control activist.
Date of Birth: 14.09.1879
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger was an American nurse, educator, and birth control activist. She was the one who coined the term "birth control" and established the first clinic in the United States dedicated to providing birth control services. She also launched the program "Planned Parenthood." Despite facing criticism for her racist beliefs and advocacy for eugenics, Sanger remains one of the most influential figures in the American reproductive rights movement.
Early Life
Margaret Higgins was born in Corning, New York. Her mother, Anne Higgins, was a devout Catholic who experienced 18 pregnancies, giving birth to 11 children throughout her life. Margaret was the sixth of the 11 children. She spent much of her youth taking care of her siblings and managing household chores.
Her sisters paid for her education at Claverack College in Claverack, New York. However, Margaret had to return home in 1896 when her mother's health deteriorated. Anne Higgins passed away in 1899 due to tuberculosis.
During this time, Margaret received help from an acquaintance to enroll in nursing courses. In 1902, Margaret married architect William Sanger and settled in New York City. The couple later moved to a warmer climate for Margaret's health, but their home was destroyed in a fire. They returned to New York City, where William established connections in the bohemian community, and Margaret began working as a nurse.
Activism and Advocacy for Birth Control
In 1911, Margaret started writing a series of articles on sexual hygiene titled "What Every Mother Should Know" and "What Every Girl Should Know." In 1913, she worked as a nurse in Lower East Side, where she encountered numerous impoverished women suffering from frequent childbirth and dangerous self-induced abortions. She struggled to find information on contraception methods in public libraries.
In 1914, Margaret created a monthly publication called "The Woman Rebel," actively promoting contraception within its eight pages. Instead of using existing terms like "family limitation," Margaret came up with the term "birth control." She argued that every woman should have complete control over her own body.
However, Margaret faced opposition, and her critics focused on articles in "The Woman Rebel" that discussed marriage and killings. Fearing legal persecution, she temporarily fled to Europe and continued her work under the pseudonym Bertha Watson. Margaret returned to the United States in October 1915, and all charges against her were later dropped.
In October 1916, Margaret opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, making it the first of its kind in the entire country. Just nine days after the opening, she was arrested for violating a New York law that restricted the distribution and sale of contraceptives. In January 1917, Margaret appeared in court and lost, receiving a 30-day sentence of forced labor. However, she eventually won her appeal.
Later Life and Legacy
In 1921, Margaret divorced William Sanger after eight years of a troubled marriage. It is known that she had romantic relationships with Havelock Ellis and H. G. Wells before the divorce. In 1922, she married oil tycoon Noah Slee, and they remained together until his death in 1943, which greatly benefited Margaret's activities.
After World War I, Margaret distanced herself from radical politics and founded the American Birth Control League in 1921, attracting support from the middle class. She discovered that physicians were exempt from restrictions on contraception if their actions were based on medical reasons. In 1923, Margaret established the Clinical Research Bureau, fully utilizing this legal loophole, with sponsorship from the Rockefellers.
In 1928, Margaret stepped down from the American Birth Control League and focused on her clinic work. She actively gave lectures in churches, women's clubs, theaters, and reached diverse audiences, including workers, clergy, liberals, socialists, scholars, and upper-class women.
In 1929, Margaret founded the National Committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control to advocate for new laws related to contraception. She achieved success in 1936, marking a significant milestone in American medicine and sexual hygiene.
After her victory, Margaret was able to relax and moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she withdrew from public activism. She passed away in Tucson from congestive heart failure at the age of 86, just one week shy of her 87th birthday.
