The Pivot of Civilization

First published in 1922 by pioneering birth control advocate Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), this controversial work attempted to broaden the still-radical idea of birth control beyond its socialist and feminist roots. Shifting the focus from women's reproductive rights to the larger issue of the general welfare of the whole human race, Sanger argues that birth control is pivotal to a rational approach toward dealing with the threat of overpopulation and its ruinous consequences in poverty and disease. However, in arguing for population control, Sanger makes frequent reference to the then fashionable "science" of eugenics. While critics on both the right and the left have sought to diminish Sanger's achievements, based on the context of her arguments, they can never obscure her powerful feminist message: when women gain greater control over their fertility they will improve the human race.