National Committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control

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The National Committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control was a birth control lobbying organization set up in 1929 in Chicago by Margaret Sanger and the Illinois Birth Control League. [1]

Birth control Method of preventing human pregnancy

Birth control, also known as contraception and fertility control, is a method or device used to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only became available in the 20th century. Planning, making available, and using birth control is called family planning. Some cultures limit or discourage access to birth control because they consider it to be morally, religiously, or politically undesirable.

Chicago City in Illinois, United States

Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois, as well as the third most populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 2,716,450 (2017), it is the most populous city in the Midwest. Chicago is the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, often referred to as Chicagoland, and the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States. The metropolitan area, at nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States, and the fourth largest in North America and the third largest metropolitan area in the world by land area.

Margaret Sanger American birth control activist, educator and nurse

Margaret Higgins Sanger was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control", opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established organizations that evolved into the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The organization was set up into four regional sections. Its headquarters was moved to Washington, D.C. in 1933. [1] The committee was disbanded in 1937, six months after the successful outcome in favor of birth control of the court case United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries . [2]

Washington, D.C. Capital of the United States

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington or D.C., is the capital of the United States. Founded after the American Revolution as the seat of government of the newly independent country, Washington was named after George Washington, first President of the United States and Founding Father. As the seat of the United States federal government and several international organizations, Washington is an important world political capital. The city is also one of the most visited cities in the world, with more than 20 million tourists annually.

<i>United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries</i>

United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries, 86 F.2d 737, was an in rem United States Court of Appeals case in the Second Circuit involving birth control.

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Office of Management and Budget United States government agency

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Comstock laws

The Comstock Laws were a set of federal acts passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration along with related state laws. The "parent" act was passed on March 3, 1873, as the Act for the "Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use". This Act criminalized usage of the U.S. Postal Service to send any of the following items:

Planned Parenthood a non-profit organization that provides reproductive health services in the United States and internationally

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The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is a lobbying organization in the public interest founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends. FCNL works for social and economic justice, peace, stewardship of the environment, and good government in the United States.

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Mary Dennett American activist

Mary Coffin Ware Dennett was an American women's rights activist, pacifist, homeopathic advocate, and pioneer in the areas of birth control, sex education, and women's suffrage. She co-founded the Voluntary Parenthood League, served in the National American Women's Suffrage Association, co-founded the Twilight Sleep Association, and wrote a famous pamphlet on sex education and birth control.

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 own fertility. In 1942, the league became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Clarence James Gamble, married to Sarah Merry Bradley-Gamble, was the heir of the Procter and Gamble soap company fortune. He was an advocate of birth control and eugenics, and founded Pathfinder International.

National Birth Control League

The National Birth Control League was a United States organization founded in the early 20th century to promote the education and use of birth control.

Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 United States law about lobbying

The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 was legislation in the United States aimed at bringing increased accountability to federal lobbying practices in the United States. The law was amended substantially by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007. Under provisions which took effect on January 1, 1996, federal lobbyists are required to register with the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and the Secretary of the United States Senate. Anyone failing to do so is punishable by a civil fine of up to $50,000. The clerk and secretary must refer any acts of non-compliance to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

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Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn was a U.S. feminist social reformer and a leader of the suffrage movement in the United States. Hepburn served as president of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association before joining the National Woman's Party. Alongside Margaret Sanger, Hepburn co-founded the organization that would become Planned Parenthood. She was the mother of Academy Award-winning actress Katharine Hepburn.

Birth control movement in the United States

The birth control movement in the United States was a social reform campaign beginning in 1914 that aimed to increase the availability of contraception in the U.S. through education and legalization. The movement began in 1914 when a group of political radicals in New York City, led by Emma Goldman, Mary Dennett, and Margaret Sanger, became concerned about the hardships that childbirth and self-induced abortions brought to low-income women. Sanger, in particular, simultaneously sought to connect birth control to the organized eugenics movement, regularly appealing to the authority of eugenic scientists Karl Pearson, Charles Davenport, and others in her Birth Control Review from the early 1920s. Such figures sought to prevent population segments they deemed genetically 'undesirable' from reproducing. While seeking legitimacy for the birth control movement partly through the approval of organized eugenics, Sanger and other activists also worked on the political front. Since contraception was considered to be obscene at the time, the activists targeted the Comstock laws, which prohibited distribution of any "obscene, lewd, and/or lascivious" materials through the mail. Hoping to provoke a favorable legal decision, Sanger deliberately broke the law by distributing The Woman Rebel, a newsletter containing a discussion of contraception. In 1916, Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, but the clinic was immediately shut down by police, and Sanger was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Birth control in the United States

Birth control in the United States is a complicated issue with a long history.

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's American Birth Control League. The VPL lobbied to change anti-contraception laws. In 1925 the VPL merged with the American Birth Control League.

The Birth Control Council of America (BCCA) was a short-lived organization that was established 1937 to reconcile the activities of the American Birth Control League (ABCL) and the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau (BCCRB). The goal was to reduce redundancy, improve cooperation, and discuss the future of the birth control movement in the United States. The BCCA was created following the 1936 United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries federal court case, effectively removing legal obstacles limiting the ability of doctors to import, disseminate and prescribe contraceptives.

The Birth Control International Information Centre (BCIIC) (1929–38) was a London-based independent, international clearinghouse for birth control information established by American birth control leader Margaret Sanger and British suffragist Edith How-Martyn. It supported the establishment of clinics and maternity advice centers abroad, sponsored lecture tours and a conference.

Juliet Barrett Rublee American birth control advocate, suffragist, film producer

Juliet Barrett Rublee was an American birth control advocate, suffragist, and film producer. She was married to George Rublee.

References

  1. 1 2 "Birth Control Organizations: National Committee on Federal Legislation on Birth Control". The Margaret Sanger Papers project. NYU. Retrieved 2016-07-30.
  2. Benjamin, Hazel C. (1938-01-01). "Lobbying for Birth Control". The Public Opinion Quarterly. 2 (1): 48–60. JSTOR   2745054.

See also