Strong & Powerful Women: Margaret Higgins Sanger

      

In today's world women are able to do whatever that they want, they are in complete control of what they want to be, what they want to do with their lives and their bodies but back then it wasn't like this. Women now can choose whether or not they want to have kids and to prevent pregnancy. Birth control was something that wasn't common and a lot of women didn't even know that there was a way to prevent falling pregnant and a lot of them did a lot of self-harm, so that's where Margaret Higgins Sanger comes in. 

Margaret was born on September 14th, 1884, in Corning New York. She had 10 siblings and when she got older she attended the local high school and went to go study at Claverack College in Hudson, New York. Unfortunately, when she was in college she had to leave to care for her dying mother who suffered from tuberculosis. When her mother passed away Margaret moved to White Plains and decided to take nursing training. 

She then met William Sanger and in 1902, they got married and had 3 kids, 2 sons and a daughter. The daughter however ended up passing away very early on in her childhood. 

Margaret had a very strong opinion on people having kids when they themselves had any mental or physical illnesses and those who were poor. She  also felt that once a couple has a child with a disability that they should not have another. She eventually became the leading advocate for the eugenics movement. But this is besides the point, Margaret did something that I think helped a large number of people. 

In October 16th, 1916, Margaret decided to open a birth control and family planning clinic to not only educate women about birth control but to also give out some materials. Unfortunately, back then if you gave out anything describing contraceptive methods it meant that you were violating the law. This got Margaret arrested along with her sister while also having the clinic get shut down. But once she was released Margaret made sure to do more than she did before and to educate more people about this subject. She began lecturing and raising money from a group of some very wealthy supporters. 

Margaret had a very strong opinion on people having kids when they themselves had any mental or physical illnesses and those who were poor. She  also felt that once a couple has a child with a disability that they should not have another. She eventually became the leading advocate for the eugenics movement. But 

With all the hard work she put in she was finally able to open the Birth Control Review which eventually began flourishing and was gaining more acceptance from not only the public but the medical profession with doctors now prescribing their female patients with birth control if that's what they wanted. 

    

Margaret Sanger fought for women to have control over their bodies and educating them about preventing unwanted pregnancies. Although she did more than just make birth control known to women and accepted by the public, I felt like this was a very bold thing for her to tackle since it was an issue that needed to be brought to light at the time and really helped a lot of people. 

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