The National Birth Control League was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

organization founded in the early 20th century to promote sex education, the use of means and methods to prevent conception, to lobby for a change in legislation making this illegal, and to bring up courtcases with the aim to change jurisprudence, enabling

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

It was founded in March 1915 by Mary Dennett,

Jessie Ashley Jessie Ashley (1861–1919) was an American lawyer, socialist, and feminist. Born into a wealthy family, she entered law school at age 39 and became a radical lawyer with a foot in two worlds. A founder of the National Birth Control League, Ashl ...

, Clara Gruening Stillman and

Margaret Sanger Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control ...

, to improve birth control education and to change laws that prohibited access to information about how to prevent conception. It published birth control literature, drafted federal legislation concepts, and held conferences at its Fifth Avenue headquarters. Its activities were published in the '' Birth Control Review''. A committee was formed of 100 women to support the birth control activism work of

. On the whole, though, the organization was subtler than Sanger in approach. It targeted much of its activities towards conservative and wealthy individuals. It eschewed membership of extremists, like

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...

, and it particularly sought to spotlight the "scientific" aspects of birth control in an era when the topic sex education was considered obscene and the promotion of means to prevent conception illegal. Parents in 24 states were not allowed to discuss contraception with their married children. In 1919, Mary Dennett pushed for a birth control bill in the New York legislature, which failed. As a result, the National Birth Control League was dismantled. Dennett immediately formed a new organization, the

Voluntary Parenthood League The Voluntary Parenthood League (VPL) was an organization that advocated for contraception during the birth control movement in the United States. The VPL was founded in 1919 by Mary Dennett. The VPL was a rival organization to Margaret Sanger' ...

, while Sanger was in Europe. Her sole purpose was to revise federal obscenity-focused legislation and jurisprudence to exclude birth control, rather than tackle the issue on a state-by-state basis. The organization's successor was the

American Birth Control League The American Birth Control League (ABCL) was founded by Margaret Sanger in 1921 at the First American Birth Control Conference in New York City. The organization promoted the founding of birth control clinics and encouraged women to control their ...

, founded by Margaret Sanger "to enlighten and educate all sections of the American public in the various aspects of the dangers of uncontrolled procreation and the imperative necessity of a world program of Birth Control." The organization had links to the

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

-, immigration restriction - and social hygiene movements. The American Birth Control League later, in 1942, became

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

References

{{Reflist, 2 Sex education in the United States Birth control in the United States

See also

References