Alice Bunker Stockham, MD

Alice Bunker Stockham, MD was one of the first women ever to graduate from medical school in the United States. Through her work as a doctor, she frequently treated patients who were forced into maternity which she found to be particularly distressing.

In 1903 she published Karezza: Ethics of Marriage, in which she discusses the importance of a woman's right to choose. In Chapter 7: FREE MOTHERHOOD, Stockham describes her experience visiting the Naiars, a society in India located on the Malabar Coast. She describes them as "intelligent and educated, have good schools and their houses average better than those in other parts of India..the women are the lords of creation...they are called the free women of India."

In this society, women take control of their own lives choosing their husbands who will ultimately be the father of the children they bear. If a Naiar woman deems a man to be unfit or he demonstrates after time that he isn't cut out for the responsibility of a husband and/or father, the woman's wish to sever the ties of matrimony is granted without any infiltration by religion or the government.

Karezza is "a mutual relation and it removes all vestiges of the old idea of man's dominion over woman. All the pleasure and benefits to be derived are hers as much as his."

There are a few chapters that are applicable from her book to women's reproductive rights which I will probably include as I delve into history more over the next few weeks. However, I found the following quote to be extremely compelling:

Women have demanded and received recognition in every profession
and vocation; they have eloquently appealed for the duties and
privileges of citizenship. In many states they have been allowed
through the ballot, a voice in adjusting disputed policies of city and country;
they have been given positions of responsibility and emolument;
but alas, how seldom are they accorded the freedom of choice for the
fulfillment of the inherent andnatural function of child-bearing.

Amen,  Dr. Stockham. Amen.



Information for this entry was found on www.reuniting.info
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Roe vs. Wade

This case is THE  most famous related to women's rights. It changed history and women's reproductive rights in the United States.

'Jane Roe', an unmarried woman, wanted to end her pregnancy safely and legally. January 22, 1973 the United States Supreme Court declared its decision in this case overturning the Texas law and for the first time, it was acknowledged that a woman's right to choose whether or not to terminate her pregnancy was included in the right to privacy. Previously, practically all states outlawed abortion with exception of cases of incest, rape, fetal anomaly and if the woman's life was at stake as a result of her pregnancy. Roe relinquished this restriction for women and made abortion services safer and more accessible to women in the 1970s through today.

In Roe vs. Wade the Supreme Court ruled that:

 "a state's interest in protecting maternal health is not compelling until the
second trimester of pregnancy and its interest in potential life is not
'compelling' until vitality, the point in pregnancy at which there is a reasonable
possibility for the sustained survival of the fetus outside the womb. A state
may - but it not required to - prohibit abortion after vitality, except when
it is necessary to protect a woman's life or health."

In coming to this decision, the Supreme Court revisited past cases that proved that the government could not interfere with certain decisions regarding procreation, marriage and other facets of family life. For example, in the case Griswold vs. Connecticut (1965), Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut was on trial for distributing contraceptives to married couples. The Supreme Court ruled that making contraceptives available to married couples was infringing upon their right to privacy. By 1972, single people were also included and provided with contraceptives.

The late 1960s were a time when many states began rethinking the abortion ban. Many groups, including health care providers, clergy members, woman's rights activists lobbied their state legislatures to overturn bans and/or limits on abortion. Alaska, Hawaii, New York and Washington repealed abortion bans between 1967 and 1973.


Information for this blog post was provided by ppfa.org
If you are just beginning to read my blog, here is the first post that briefly describes the purpose.

Margaret Sanger - "My Fight for Birth Control"

Anyone who is pro-choice and supports a woman's right to choose should know Margaret Sanger. Essentially, she is the reason Planned Parenthood exists, and women of low income and/or no health insurance today can get the necessary health benefits to stay healthy. Planned Parenthood provides women (and men, too!) with many services ranging from mammograms to pap smears, STD/STI testing and counseling. For the record, abortions account for 2-3% of their services. Perhaps that bears repeating; abortions account for 2-3% of the services provided by Planned Parenthood. As stated on the PPFA website, "more than 90 percent is preventive, primary care, which helps prevent unintended pregnancies through contraception, reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections through testing and treatment, and screen for cervical and other cancers." With this in mind, doesn't that seem a little insane to stop funding for this organization when a majority of their services are NOT abortions? Let's go back to the beginning when this truly admirable woman make her mark in history.

In the 1880's, the Cornstock Law was in effect which was an attempt at controlling pornography and resulted in limited women's access to birth control due to the obscenity associated with pornography. Women were at a greater risk of potentially risky pregnancies. Margaret Sanger was a nurse and in the 1900 she worked at some of the worst slums in NYC. She assisted poor women in labor, where she became painfully aware of the negative impact women suffered as a result of poor health and welfare while they had no access to birth control. She witnessed illness and fatality of women due to unsafe abortions to avoid having more children. By law, Sanger was unable to educate these women on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Eventually, she decided to take action and began to educate herself on birth control, overturn the Cornstock Law and lobby Congress to allow doctors to prescribe birth control.

In 1914 Sanger created a magazine called Woman Rebel which encouraged women to think for themselves, and promoted family planning. Under the Cornstock Law this information was illegal to send via mail. As a result, Sanger was charged with obscenity. She fled to England and returned to the United States when the charges were dropped. Upon her return to New York she founded the National Birth Control League which later became Planned Parenthood.

Sanger opened a birth control clinic in Brooklyn in 1916 which was promptly shut down and Sanger was placed in a workhouse for 30 days. Upon her release, she reopened the clinic in her own home. Her lobbying and hard work resulted in the American Medical Association reversing the Cornstock Law, and permitting doctors to distribute birth control in 1936.

Margaret let the movement called "Voluntary Motherhood" which gave women to access to birth control as well as education on parenting "unter the most safe, humane and dignified conditions." It is unfortunate that while the idea behind the movement was a positive one, it was affiliated and combined with Darwin's theory (survival of the fittest) and eugenics to argue that birth control was necessary for the "unfit" to discontinue reproducing. At the time, the unfit were considered low income and immigrant populations as well as the "feeble minded" and criminals. With this argument, voluntary motherhood won the support of those needed to get things done.

Clearly, Planned Parenthood's stance has come a long way since the days of inception. Millions of people, regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender have benefited from the services and resources provided by this organization.

While I don't necessarily agree with the reason as to why the ball got rolling so to speak, I'm glad progress eventually moved past eugenics and now all who enter Planned Parenthood are accepted, guided and served with open arms.


[The information found for this entry can be credited to Women's Voices, Feminist Visions.]


*If you have found any information to be untrue, or feel there is some information that is pertinent and was missed, please feel free to comment.*
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If you are just beginning to read my blog, here is the first post that briefly describes the purpose.