“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”, this quote by Margaret Sanger, American birth control activist, shows the importance of women’s personal choices. Women’s fight for their rights has been since early history. Woman’s job only included in housework and child birth, but in the 1920s, women started receiving their choices and rights. In the twenty-first century, the world perceived women with fairness and women began receiving equal opportunities, but one right the government is stripping from women: the choice of using birth control and aborting pregnancy. Society frowns upon aborting a fetus in the womb, but society fails to realize the circumstantial standing life places each woman in and should accept the decision a woman decides for her future whether the choice includes the use of birth control or aborting her pregnancy. The accessibility of birth control pills, the Roe v. Wade case, and the personal stories of women show that a woman knows the betterment for herself and unborn child and the government should not have a say in the a woman’s reproductive rights.
Many women in the past did not gain the right to make choice about their sexuality, but in the 1950s, a pill to prevent pregnancy became reality (Bringle, 61). Birth control pills are a preventive method to avoid unintended pregnancy. The creation of this fertility control concluded as a scientific breakthrough, but the medical field still did not give women approachability towards these pills. A birth control advocate, Margaret Sanger, “attacked legislative restrictions on birth control”, informed many women the uses and posi...
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...s." Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
"Roe v. Wade." Great American Court Cases. Ed. Mark Mikula and L. Mpho Mabunda. Vol. 3: Equal Protection and Family Law. Detroit: Gale, 1999. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
Santorum, Rick. "My Fight for Life." Wall Street Journal. 23 Jan 2012: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 14 Nov 2013.
Shears, Kathleen Henry. "Increasing Contraception Reduces Abortion." FHI-Network. Vol. 21 No. 4 2002: 28-33. SIRS Issues Researcher.Web. 01 Dec 2013.
Tanner, Lindsey. "Women Describe Circumstances That Led to Abortion." Rockford Register Star. 20 Oct 2012: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 17 Nov 2013.
Wetzstein, Cheryl. "Abortion fights heat up as Roe v. Wade turns 40; Elections, court rulings widen rifts." Washington Times [Washington, DC] 2 Jan. 2013: A01.Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Dorothy Wardell’s article titled “Margaret Sanger: Birth Control’s Successful Revolutionary” explains what inspired Sanger ideas on contraception and what problems she faced while working to change the notions and laws on Birth Control. The central argument presented by Wardell is that Sanger’s efforts led to privileges for women’s bodies and health centers providing methods for women to act on these privileges (Wardell, 736). Although Wardell is effective in supporting her argument, it would be stronger if she included some historical context and evidence of Sanger’s opinion in her own words found in a speech of hers and in Family Limitation.
"A free race cannot be born" and 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"(Sanger A 35). Margaret Sanger (1870-1966)said this in one of her many controversial papers. The name of Margaret Sanger and the issue of birth control have virtually become synonymous. Birth control and the work of Sanger have done a great deal to change the role of woman in society, relationships between men and woman, and the family. The development and spread of knowledge of birth control gave women sexual freedom for the first time, gave them an individual identity in society and a chance to work without fearing they were contributing to the moral decline of society by leaving children at home. If birth control and Sanger did so much good to change the role of women in society why was birth control so controversial?
Milbauer, Barbara. The Law Giveth: Legal Aspects of the Abortion Controversy. Atheneum, New York: 1983.
Internationally, issues revolving around the female body and reproduction are extremely controversial. For a woman, her body is a very private matter. At the same time, however, a woman's body and her reproduction rights are the center of attention in many public debates. Several questions regarding women's reproductive rights remain unanswered. How much control do women have over their bodies? What kind of rules can be morally imposed upon women? And who controls the bodies of women? Although the public continues to debate these topics, certain conclusions can been made concerning women and their reproductive rights. An undeniable fact is that government has a large degree of control over female reproductive organs. All around the world, time and time again, several national governments have implemented policies, enacted laws, and denied women control over their reproductive organs. Several governments have crossed the border between intimate and public matters concerning women's reproductive organs, by making laws about contraceptives, abortion, and family planning programs.
When legally introduced to society in 1960, the Pill stirred up a long period of controversy. The availability of the Pill had great impact on women’s health, social life, laws, religion, family, relationships, morality and sexuality. Initially conceived to be highly effective and safe, the Pill left many women with side effects – few which led to several fatalities. Before the Pill was created, many women postponed sex due to the social norm and fear of becoming pregnant before marriage. Families grew large and it was typical for a woman to have multiple children caused by the lack of birth control. Due to regulations, such as the Comstock laws, many people supported the prohibition of the Pill and other family planning practices. However, many women believed in the right to control their own body when it came to procreation. Despite the controversies, the Pill left lasting impacts, such as by opening society to the sexual revolution and...
" Abortion and the Constitution: Reversing Roe v. Wade Through the Courts. Horan, Grant, Cunningham, eds., pp. 113-117. Washington, D.C. - The. : Georgetown University Press, 1987.
Imagine today in America’s hyper-sexualized society, not being provided with any knowledge about contraception or sexual education. Before Margaret Sanger’s activism, most women were in this position of oblivion about their own bodies. In “Morality of Birth Control”, Sanger argues effectively for the legalization and acceptance of both birth control and sexual education using ethos, pathos, and logos to strengthen her argument. Sanger organizes her argument by first presenting a series of questions that were sent out to “the most eminent men and women in the world.” These questions pertained to the opinions of these men and women on the topic of how birth control and awareness could potentially affect their society.
No other element of the Women’s Rights Movement has generated as much controversy as the debate over reproductive rights. As the movement gained momentum so did the demand for birth control, sex education, family planning and the repeal of all abortion laws. On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision which declared abortion "fundamental right.” The ruling recognized the right of the individual “to be free from unwanted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the right of a woman to decide whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” (US Supreme Court, 1973) This federal-level ruling took effect, legalizing abortion for all women nationwide.
Over the course of the last century, abortion in the Western hemisphere has become a largely controversial topic that affects every human being. In the United States, at current rates, one in three women will have had an abortion by the time they reach the age of 45. The questions surrounding the laws are of moral, social, and medical dilemmas that rely upon the most fundamental principles of ethics and philosophy. At the center of the argument is the not so clear cut lines dictating what life is, or is not, and where a fetus finds itself amongst its meaning. In an effort to answer the question, lawmakers are establishing public policies dictating what a woman may or may not do with regard to her reproductive rights.
Palmer, Gary. “Roe V. Wade Exposed. 22 Jan. 2003. Alabama Policy Institute. 31 July 2004. < http://www.alabamapolicyinstitute.org/gary-2003-1-22.html>.
Margaret Sanger was, at large, a birth control activist, but this speech was more about the questioning of birth control corrupting morality in women. People must remember, in the day and age where Sanger presented this speech, November 1921, women were considered very far from equal and much closer to servants or maids. In her speech, I saw that ethos was present in the sense that she gave herself credibility. Through Sanger’s detailed words and actions, and her statements including the presence of scientists and, or, professionals, the masses of listening people could infer that she was very well informed and solid in her statements. Though she presented herself as agreeable, Sanger was firm in her beliefs. In addition, Sanger says, “We desire to stop at its source the disease, poverty and feeble-mindedness and insanity which exist today, for these lower the standards of civilization and make for race deterioration. We know that the masses of people are growing wiser and are using their own minds to decide their individual conduct” (Sanger, par.15). To me, Sanger made herself appeal to the audience by using the word ‘we.’ In the practice of ethos, this focused on the author more than...
Roe v. Wade and the Right to Abortion. (2013, January 18). Retrieved April 21, 2014, from
With so many women choosing to have abortions, it would be expected that it would not be so greatly frowned up, yet society is still having problems with its acceptance. Every woman has the fundamental right to decide for herself, free from government interference, whether or not to have an abortion. Today, more than ever, American families do not want the government to trample on their right to privacy by mandating how they must decide on the most intimate, personal matters. That is why, even though Americans may differ on what circumstances for terminating a crisis pregnancy are consistent with their own personal moral views, on the fundamental question of who should make this personal decision, the majority of Americans agree that each woman must have the right to make this private choice for herself. Anti-choice proposals to ban abortions for “sex-selection” or “birth-control” are smokescreens designed to shift the focus of the debate away from this issue and trivialize the seriousness with which millions of women make this highly personal decision. Any government restriction on the reasons for which women may obtain legal abortions violates the core of this right and could force all women to publicly justify their reasons for seeking abortion.
Carr, Jessica. "Project 6 - Blog Roll." Project 6. Abortion Inhumane, 19 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2013.
"People and Events: The Pill and the Sexual Revolution." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.