Margaret Sanger: “Birth Control and Racial Betterment”

( 1919 ) Commentary by Esther Katz and Cathy Moran Hajo, Margaret Sanger Papers Project, New York University

“Eugenists imply or insist that a woman's first duty is to the state; we contend that her duty to herself is her first duty to the state.” - “Birth Control and Racial Betterment”
“We maintain that a woman possessing an adequate knowledge of her reproductive functions is the best judge of the time and conditions under which her child should be brought into the world. We further maintain it is her right, regardless of all other considerations, to determine whether she shall bear children or not.” - “Birth Control and Racial Betterment”
“Eugenics without Birth Control seems to us a house builded upon the sands.” - “Birth Control and Racial Betterment”
“Only upon a free, self-determining motherhood can rest any unshakable structure of racial betterment.” - “Birth Control and Racial Betterment”

Margaret Sanger (Library of Congress)

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