What law did Margaret Sanger violate?

What law did Margaret Sanger violate?

the Comstock law
She stood accused of violating the Comstock law, which made it a crime to circulate “obscenity” through the mail. Passed in 1873 in response to pressure from a crusader named Anthony Comstock, the law defined information about contraception or abortion as obscenity.

What are Sanger’s arguments for the use of birth control?

In that respect, Sanger’s claims about contraception differed from those of many eugenicists in the early twentieth century, as Sanger argued that women should use birth control to choose how to limit their fertility instead of the government forcing women and men to be sterilized.

What did the Comstock laws prohibit?

In 1872 Comstock set off for Washington with an anti-obscenity bill, including a ban on contraceptives, that he had drafted himself. The statute defined contraceptives as obscene and illicit, making it a federal offense to disseminate birth control through the mail or across state lines.

Is the Comstock law still in effect?

But the Comstock Act has never been repealed; it is still on the books. This crusade resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of a multitude of Americans whose only crime was to exercise their constitutional right of free speech in ways that offended Anthony Comstock.

How did Margaret Sanger fight the Comstock laws?

Sanger founded the monthly publication The Woman Rebel, which included birth control information. Upon using the mail for distributing the publication in 1913 she was indicted under the Comstock Law for mailing obscene materials. Authorities confiscated (removed) all copies of the publication.

How long was Margaret Sanger imprisoned?

30 days
Sanger was convicted and served 30 days in jail.

What did Marie Stopes invent?

contraception
Marie Stopes, in full Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes, (born October 15, 1880, Edinburgh, Scotland—died October 2, 1958, near Dorking, Surrey, England), advocate of birth control who, in 1921, founded the United Kingdom’s first instructional clinic for contraception.

What Every Girl Should Know summary?

Sanger states that mothers have a responsibility to teach sex education impartially to their children because children come to them first with questions. Sanger concludes that her goal is to present facts and is not to impose her morals or beliefs on her readers.

How did Comstock laws end?

The Comstock Law was enforced until 1965 when the landmark decision of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) found it unconstitutional to restrict access to birth control because it interfered with a person’s right to privacy.

How did Margaret Sanger fight the Comstock Act?

Did Anthony Comstock marry?

At one of his jobs, Comstock met Margaret Hamilton. They married in January 1871. Comstock was ten years younger than his wife. On 4 December 1871, Comstock’s wife gave birth to a girl, Lillie.

Who started birth control?

In the middle of the 20th century, an age-old quest for safe and effective oral contraception was realized. The woman who made that happen was Margaret Sanger (1879–1966), the founder of the American Birth Control League, the fore- runner of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (Chesler, 1992).