Margaret Sanger

’s Birth Control Movement Essay, Research Paper

When a motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result

of ignorance or accident, its children will become the foundation of a new

race. (URL 1)

-Margaret Sanger

Many people have made significant impacts on the way our world is today but

only a few have dedicated their lives to a cause that would benefit all

people. Margaret Sanger dedicated her life to making birth control available

to all women in the world and thereby increased the quality and length of

women.s and children.s lives.

Margaret Louise Higgins was born on September 11, 1879, in Corning, New

York. She was the sixth out of eleven Higgins children and grew up in the

woods on the outskirts of town. Her father, Michael Hennesy Higgins, was a

sculptor who specialized in tombstone creation. Her mother, Anne Purcell,

like most women at the time, was a stay at home housewife. Money was tight

in the Higgin.s household but Mr. Higgins believed in helping others.

He instilled this trait into all of his children telling them “you have

no right to material comforts without giving back to society the benefits of

your honest experience” (Sanger 23) Young Margaret was especially

close to her father and admired his attitudes but being his daughter

wasn.t always easy.

Margaret and her siblings grew up being called “children of the devil”

(Sanger 21) because of their father.s involvement in political activities

such as social and labor reform. The locals didn.t agree with his beliefs

and considered him to be a rebel. To most children, this nickname would have

been a negative thing but Margaret liked it. She was proud to be the

daughter of a man who believed in a cause despite what others thought. This

is how Margaret gained the confidence and strength to later make her mark on

the world.

Margaret was sent off to boarding school after the eighth grade and

began to develop her leadership qualities. She developed an interest in

woman.s rights after she was turned down for an acting job because she

refused to give the director her leg measurements. For the first time in her

life, she had encountered discrimination for being a woman and didn.t like

it. She began to read about woman leaders in history such as Helen of Troy

and Cleopatra. These women inspired her to write an essay on women.s

equality for a class. After reading it aloud and receiving a rousing

ovation, she decided she wanted to dedicate her life to making the world a

better place.

After graduating from high school, she became a teacher. Her career was

short-lived, however, as she was forced to return home and care of her

tuberculosis stricken mother. The pressure and stress from raising eleven

children weakened her mother and she died shortly after. The short time in

which Margaret cared for her mother made her realize her true

calling-nursing. She enrolled in a nursing program at White Plains Hospital

and by age 21, she was a certified nurse.

While working as a nurse, she met her husband-William Sanger. He was an

architect and was very politically active like Margaret. He reminded her of

her father and they fell in love instantly. They immediately had three

children and Margaret took a short hiatus from nursing to be a full-time

mother.

She resumed her nursing career with a newfound determination. It was during this .rebirth. when Margaret found her true calling.

She got a job as a visiting nurse in some of the worst neighborhoods in New York City. Being a visiting nurse, she dealt mostly with pregnant women. Whether it was delivering the child or nursing desperately weak mothers back to health, Margaret saw a trend that bothered her immensely. A good portion of these women were either close to death from bearing their umpteenth child or from profuse bleeding from failed abortions. One thing was clear-many of these woman didn.t want these children. .Tell me something to keep from having another baby. We cannot afford another yet!., these women begged. (Sanger 87) Unfortunately, Margaret was prohibited by law from helping these woman in any way.

Visions of these women suffering made Sanger unable to sleep at night. She was angry at the fact that these children were born into poverty with no chance of getting out because of the burden of supporting so many kids. The last straw was when one of her patients died during

childbirth after asking Margaret for birth control. This ate away at Margaret.s conscience. .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.. (URL 1) She had finally found how she was going to make the world a better place.

After this woman.s death, Sanger quit nursing. She began doing daily research on birth control and soon she was enthralled by it. She moved her family to Europe so that she could learn various techniques of birth control.

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