Join Opinion on Facebook and follow updates on /roomfordebate. Can America Heal From the Paralysis of Our Racial Divisions Let’s Discuss 2 min read. We need this reminder now, more than ever. Placing Margaret Sanger on the $20 bill will remind us of what she has done for women and our reproductive health and how the fight for reproductive freedom is an ongoing one. Sanger was not without her controversies but neither were any of the men who currently grace our currency.
Corporations were, essentially, given more rights than women. In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled, for example, that owners of privately held corporations don’t have to provide employees with certain contraceptives that contradict their religious beliefs.
Not only are we facing such legislative attacks on reproductive freedom, we’re also seeing a strange cultural backlash against birth control. Recent legislative attacks on reproductive freedom in states like Texas, North Carolina, North Dakota and Arkansas - attacks that have included 20-week abortion bans, mandatory ultrasounds for women seeking abortions, and unreasonable medical facility restrictions placed on abortion clinics that force them to close - are an unfortunate reminder that despite Margaret Sanger’s efforts, women are perilously close to becoming once more indentured to their bodies. The Democratic candidates who debated yesterday wasted no time in confronting President Trump about his racist attacks. Wade, many assumed that we were done fighting for reproductive freedom and unfettered access to abortion services. Weisman seemingly failed to realize the candidate in question was black. This organizing lead to the creation of Planned Parenthood, which continues to serve women and men, offering preventive healthcare, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and reproductive counseling.Īfter the passage of Roe vs. When, in 1921, she founded the American Birth Control League, Sanger expanded her efforts to include middle class women so more women would be empowered to control their fertility. Sanger’s efforts to promote birth control were originally directed toward working class women who were disproportionately affected by a lack of access to reproductive healthcare.