Women's Form Of Birth Control By Margaret Sanger

Around the world, women have small alarms going off, reminding them to take their daily pill, which helps prevent pregnancies. Less than sixty years ago, women would not have had this privilege, but instead would heavily rely on men to provide some sort of birth control method. However, thanks to Margaret Sanger, women have the right to choose their form of birth control. Sanger’s legacy consists of many, even now, controversial movements, including the legalization of women’s birth control, the creation of Planned Parenthood clinics and the start of a revolution in sex education for women. She is also seen by many as a bigot and a racist leading to the use of her image against her own causes. Though Sanger did not single handily bring a revolution …show more content…
In Sanger’s time, birth control was almost unheard of, especially for those of the poorer denomination, but it was within her lifetime that the pill was first created and started to be used. Once the federal ban on birth control was lifted in 1938, womb veils started to become a popular form of birth control (Thompson, 2013). By 1956, research was being done to create a pill form of birth control for women, something that would one day become one of the most popular forms of birth control for women (America, 2016). Planned Parenthood clinics received a grant in order to undertake the development of this pill. The first trials resulted in side effects much worse than anything seen today as the hormone levels were much too high (America, 2016). By 1972, birth control was finally legal for everyone in the United States and the pill had been refined to a lower level of hormone, making it safer (Thompson, 2013). In 1993, the female condom was approved for use, being “the only female-initiated means of preventing both pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases” (Susie Hoffman, 2004, pg 120) to exist. It ranged in effectiveness, anywhere from 90.5% to 99.2%, but still remains one of the only options for women to protect themselves (Susie Hoffman, 2004). There are some drawbacks to this method, however, including that it is difficult to insert and the male view towards it. Though it was created to help women have control …show more content…
Without Sanger, the pill - the most popular form of female birth control - would not exist. Being the first to open a birth control clinic in America, that would later turn into Planned Parenthood - a well-known and influential - institution that helps millions of women across America. Beyond that, her questioning of authority helped to start a sweep of curiosity across America that lead to the sex education system that exists today. Sixty years ago women were relying on men for nearly everything. Today, thanks to Sanger’s influence, women have control of their own bodies and can take protective measures without the permission or even knowledge of their male partners. After all the action taken, the world did indeed become better from her