Birth Control Queen
What year did Sanger open the first birth control clinic in the U.S.?
1916
What larger reform movement was Sanger part of?
The Progressive Era
What was the purpose of the Comstock Act of 1873?
To ban “obscene” materials, including birth control info
What controversial idea did Sanger support, damaging her reputation?
Eugenics
What major organization today traces its roots to Sanger’s work?
Planned Parenthood
What was Sanger’s monthly magazine that promoted birth control?
The Woman Rebel
What major issue did many reformers of the time fight against that Sanger also tackled?
Poverty / Women’s lack of medical access
True or False: Margaret Sanger was jailed for opening her clinic.
True
Who has misinterpreted or distorted Sanger’s words in modern political debates?
Some anti-abortion politicians
What major social issue did Margaret Sanger’s work primarily aim to address?
Women’s reproductive rights and health
What law did Sanger challenge that banned distribution of contraceptives?
The Comstock Laws
What was a common consequence of illegal abortions during Sanger’s era?
Women dying from unsafe procedures
What did the Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut legalize in 1965 (long after Sanger)?
Contraceptives for married couples
What’s a common myth about Sanger that historians argue isn’t true?
That she wanted to exterminate Black people
Name one modern-day issue that connects directly to Sanger’s legacy.
Reproductive rights / access to contraception
What organization did Sanger help found that later became Planned Parenthood?
American Birth Control League
What movement did some progressives, including Sanger, controversially support?
Eugenics
What federal office enforced the Comstock Laws?
US Postal Service
What’s one group Sanger partnered with to bring birth control access to underserved communities?
Black community leaders / Harlem clinic partners
How did Sanger use education as a progressive tool?
She wrote pamphlets and gave speeches to inform women
What term did Sanger coin to describe voluntary reproduction choice?
Birth control
What war deeply affected population debates during Sanger’s activism?
WWI
What was Sanger charged with when she mailed out birth control pamphlets?
Obscenity
What’s an example of Sanger’s actual progressive work with racial justice?
She hired Black doctors and nurses to serve Black communities
Which Supreme Court case, influenced by Sanger’s activism, eventually legalized contraceptive use for married couples in 1965?
Griswold v. Connecticut