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The Autobiography of Margaret Sanger

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...the reality is that she fought hard to make access to BASIC contraceptive information available to ALL families--wealthy, middle-class, poor, immigrant, WASP, African-American, etc.

Her battle against Anthony Comstock's puritanical Comstock Law--which made it illegal to give a pamphlet to a woman explaining basic menstruation--is legendary. Her article "Comstockery in America," written in 1915 and discussed in this book, highlighted the campaign by government officials to keep basic information out of the hands of the average person.

Special interest groups have created a campaign over the past 20 years to smear Sanger as a eugenicist, writing books that are published by biased publishing companies as part of a clear agenda. This autobiography stands on its own as one woman's story about her work to spread basic information to families who asked for it.

Margaret Sanger's autobiography is a long, detailed account of the woman's life told from her own perspective. In her lifetime, Sanger encountered countless women, burdened by poverty and many mouths to feed, begging to hear the "secret" method to prevent pregnancy. Sanger's campaign took her across the nation and the continents, often times running a step ahead of church and legal authorities.

I learned a great deal about the fight for birth control than I had ever thought possible. I learned that Sanger abhorred abortion while embracing contraception as a means to prevent conception. Ironically, I think this would exclude her from both of today's pro-life and pro-choice sides. An interesting autobiography of a remarkable woman and an important document on the public health struggles at the turn of the twentieth century.

It is difficult for women of today to understand a time when knowledge of basic biology was denied them. We don't know the fear of producing children which we are not healthy enough to produce or care for.

Before you it in judgement of Margaret Sanger or any feminist, read your history. Learn how laws were written and interpreted 100 years ago and realize how much things have changed because of such women.

Growing up the daughter of a practicing lay midwife in the middle of the Hippie Era, I have seen the consequences of not planning ahead before making babies. Margaret Sanger is a great historical figure for everyone, female and male alike, and her memory has been unfairly sullied by funamentalist ninnies and misogynists. I wholly support her vision, with the proviso that because of the increase in average lifespan because of modern medicine, none of us, even the fittest, can breed indiscriminately, and it's even more critical that people with genetic health issues as well as people whose families haven't fit into society very well exercise the better part of valor and refrain from reproducing.

There is more to Margaret than she tells. This is all you really need to know: "The most merciful thing a large family can do to one of its infant members is to kill it" - Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger is clearly a eugenics fanatic. She worked for years to set up programs to exterminate the "feebleminded" (euphemism for minorities), and created Planned Parenthood. Her autobiography is a study in egoism. Sanger had family, but basically shows little interest in her husband and children because her main interest was genocide of the "unfit". Her whole book is full of name-dropping of the rich and famous who shared her view of the "lower classes". To this day, Planned Parenthood had not denounced Sanger's genocide activities. They still ply their trade in minority communities throughout the country.