Margaret Sanger was particulary concerned about women's health and birth control.
Margaret Sanger (Corning, 1879 - Tucson, 1966) was an American nurse, activist in favor of pregnancy prevention and founder, in 1921, of the American Birth Control League. This League became in 1942 in the Planned Parenthood Federation of America which, together with other similar associations in many countries, helped to create in India, in 1952, the International Family Planning Federation of which she was president until 1959.
Sanger starred in several court cases that facilitated the legalization of contraception in the United States. Sanger has been a frequent target in criticism of those who oppose birth control and has also been disapproved for supporting eugenics, but remains an emblematic figure of the American movement in defense of reproductive rights.
In 1916 Sanger opened in New York the first birth control clinic in the United States, which led to his arrest for the dissemination of information on contraceptive methods. His subsequent trial and appeal generated enormous support for his cause. Sanger considered that a true equality of the woman demanded a free maternity, that is to say, that the woman could decide if she wanted to have children, when and how many. She also wanted to avoid the practice of unsafe abortion, very common at the time because abortion was normally illegal. She also opened a clinic in Harlem.
