When I read up on Sanger, I surprised to learn she didn’t promote abortion…birth control yes.
That’s a good point, but let’s see what she was fighting for:
“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.”
“…human weeds,’ ‘reckless breeders,’ 'spawning… human beings who never should have been born.” Margaret Sanger, Pivot of Civilization, referring to immigrants and poor people
“A woman’s physical satisfaction was more important than any marriage vow”. Birth Control in America, p. 11
“The marriage bed is the most degenerating influence in the social order,” Sanger said. (p. 23)
“The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.
“[Our objective is] unlimited sexual gratification without the burden of unwanted children…” The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.
womenshistory.about.com/od/quotes/a/margaret_sanger.htm and
dianedew.com/sanger.htm and
eadshome.com/MargaretSanger.htm
And her legacy (statistics from PP):
-Facts on contraception
• 62 million U.S. women are in their childbearing years (15–44).
• 43 million women of reproductive age, or 7 in 10, are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant, but could become pregnant if they or their partners fail to use a contraceptive method.
• The typical U.S. woman wants only 2 children. To achieve this goal, she must use contraceptives for roughly 3 decades.
• Virtually all women (98%) aged 15–44 who have ever had intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method.
• Overall, 62% of the 62 million women aged 15–44 are currently using one.
• 31% of the 62 million women do not need a method because they are infertile; are pregnant, postpartum or trying to become pregnant; have never had intercourse; or are not sexually active.
• Thus, only 7% of women aged 15–44 are at risk of unwanted pregnancy but are not using contraceptives.
• Among the 42 million fertile, sexually active women who do not want to become pregnant, 89% are practicing contraception.
guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_contr_use.html
-Who has abortions?
• Fifty percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25: Women aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 17%.[7]
• Thirty-seven percent of abortions occur to black women, 34% to non-Hispanic white women, 22% to Hispanic women and 8% to women of other races.**
• Forty-three percent of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27% as Catholic.[3]
• Women who have never married obtain two-thirds of all abortions.[3]
guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html
-Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives
Context: Understanding women’s reasons for having abortions can inform public debate and policy regarding abortion and unwanted pregnancy. Demographic changes over the last two decades highlight the need for a reassessment of why women decide to have abortions.
Methods: In 2004, a structured survey was completed by 1,209 abortion patients at 11 large providers, and in-depth interviews were conducted with 38 women at four sites. Bivariate analyses examined differences in the reasons for abortion across subgroups, and multivariate logistic regression models assessed associations between respondent characteristics and reported reasons.
Results: The reasons most frequently cited were that having a child would interfere with a woman’s education, work or ability to care for dependents (74%); that she could not afford a baby now (73%); and that she did not want to be a single mother or was having relationship problems (48%). Nearly four in 10 women said they had completed their childbearing, and almost one-third were not ready to have a child. Fewer than 1% said their parents’ or partners’ desire for them to have an abortion was the most important reason. Younger women often reported that they were unprepared for the transition to motherhood, while older women regularly cited their responsibility to dependents.
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2005, 37(3):110–118
guttmacher.org/pubs/psrh/full/3711005.pdf
