How Margaret Sanger Missed the Boat
© thebirthsource.org
In the year 1873, a law called the Comstock Law passed that made it illegal, among other things, to use contraception or distribute information about contraception. The law reads as follows:
"Be it enacted That whoever, within the District of Columbia or any of the Territories of the United Statesshall sellor shall offer to sell, or to lend , or to give away, or in any manner to exhibit, or shall otherwise publish or offer to publish in any manner, or shall have in his possession, for any such purpose or purposes, an obscene book, pamphlet, paper, writing, advertisement, circular, print, picture, drawing or other representation, figure, or image on or of paper of other material , or any cast instrument, or other article of an immoral nature, or any drug or medicine, or any article whatever, for the prevention of conception, or for causing unlawful abortion, or shall advertise the same for sale, or shall write or print, or cause to be written or printed, any card, circular, book, pamphlet, advertisement, or notice of any king, stating when, where, how, or of whom, or by what means, any of the articles in this sectioncan be purchased or obtained, or shall manufacture, draw, or print, or in any wise make any of such articles, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof in any court of the United Stateshe shall be imprisoned at hard labor in the penitentiary for not less than six months nor more than five years for each offense, or fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars, with costs of court."
It was this law that Margaret Sanger, the founder of the National Birth Control League, later known as the Voluntary Parenthood League, and now known as Planned Parenthood, fought against and, thus, began to campaign for women's right to plan for parenthood. She did this in part by finding private investors, doctors and scientists willing to develop what is now known as "The Pill" and by advocating abortion.
Margaret Sanger saw women as victims. Victims of the government, victims of a patriarchal society, victims of their own bodies. And while it was true that women were victims of this law, it was untrue that they were victims
of a patriarchal society, because they could have rebeled against that, as some did. And it is certainly a farce that they were victims of themselves. This attitude, one of victimization of your own body, is still the prevailing attitude of Planned Parenthood today.- that girls and women are incapable of taking charge of their fertility WITHOUT outside control, barriers, and devices. To Planned Parenthood, what makes us inherently female, the ability to conceive a child as a result of intercourse, is a detriment and a liability, instead of an advantage and an asset. These types of organizations and practitioners that share this belief not only seeks to manipulate nature and biology, but seems to know better than what biology has set in place.
What Margaret Sanger focused her energy on was the part of the Comstock Law that made it illegal to use contraception. And while many women - those in ill health or in circumstances that it wouldn't be wise to bring a child into, such as an abusive home - have greatly benefited from hormonal forms of birth control, I believe she did an immense disservice to women and society at large by completely ignoring the part of the law that prevented information sharing about female fertility - using natural means to achieve or avoid pregnancy, a very valid method of child spacing and one that is free, simple, physically beneficial for the whole family, and, what Sanger's ultimate goal REALLY was...... it is liberating.
By educating myself and implementing this approach into my life, I've uncovered many hidden treasures of knowledge. I've discovered what God intended for our bodies. I've realized true sexual freedom, without the use of devices or artificial hormones that trick my body and alter who I am.
Through my education and experiences, I have tapped into the following principles regarding the fertility life cycle..
A girl enters into menstruation in her early teens. The next 6 to10 years
affords her the opportunity and should be the time to learn about her
body and the power of her femininity and how to use that power. During
this time of emotional and physical adjustment, she should learn about
the different types of cycles she can take advantage of, in addition to the
physical - the spiritual, creative, and emotional ebbing and flowing she is
given. THIS is the time to learn how to navigate and use her creative
powers to her benefit. And I'm not just using the term "creative powers"
to mean conceiving, gestating, birthing, and nourishing a baby. If, during
this time, she does not hand herself over to an uncommitted situation
and/or fearful controlling relationships, not just sexually or romantically
speaking, she can lay claim on her rightful sexual inheritance.
No matter what your plans are, a woman should never enter into marriage, or any
sexual relationship for that matter, until they are ready emotionally and spiritually for
a family. By "ready", I also don't mean financially speaking. It is a huge American
myth that children are expensive, or that you need full insurance coverage, as I and
many of my friends and clients aren't rich nor have insurance. By ready I mean that
you are willing to accept a new soul into your family whenever that conception occurs,
because unless you are sterilized, there's always anopportunity to conceive.
Biologically speaking there's no way around it, sex is for making babies and
perpetuating the species and we are all subject to that truth. Spiritually and
emotionally speaking, sex is a recommital to your spouse, a renewal of your marriage
covenants, never to be entered into selfishly or will ill intent. Never out of obligation or
to pacify your spouse, nor only just one sided, and never as a mockery of the sacred
act that makes a man and woman one.
When a couple marries and chooses natural birth control, either the rhythm or withdrawal method is used, which can be very effective if used correctly. If neither method is used, the average conception time is about six months. Once a couple conceives their first child, they can approach contraception as our ancient mothers and women in third world countries traditionally do. Breastfeed.
Using the LAM (Lactational Ammenorhea Method) method of birth control is truly liberating. It requires adherence to certain practices, including no pacifiers or bottles, bed sharing with your baby, little to no
separation from your baby, and prolonged breastfeeding, which to the typical American woman sounds overwhelming. But to an attached mother, one in tune with her biological rhythms, it is stressful not to adhere to those practices...her gut and body tell her it is right to be with your baby day and night and feed her the way nature set it up.it - that comes instinctively if the woman sets her birth and parenting experiences up in such a way to support that.
By the time you are fertile enough to conceive again, you are ready for another child, they are spaced 18 months to 4 years apart, and in the case of nursing twins and multiples, an even wider space is achieved because biologically speaking, multiples are more demanding and you need more time between them, it's how nature has planned for the survival of the fittest. You repeat this fertility cycle of pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding until menopause is complete.
Depending on your age at marriage, and factoring in that the average healthy woman has at
least one miscarriage, she would bear between one and six children before her fertility
begins to wane, not the ten to fourteen children mothers a generation or two before us had,
due to lack of education regarding the LAM, rhythm, and withdrawal methods.
In regards to using the rhythm method between children or, if they wish not to conceive,
besides the obvious benefits, there is one benefit highly overlooked because it can't really
be measured in a scientific study. A man becomes "in tune" with his woman's body. A
song by John Mayer called "Your Body is a Wonderland" and I have a feeling that as this young man matures, he will learn just how much of a wonderland a woman's body, especially his mate's, really is.
The power of a woman's body, fertility, and cycles are humbling and awe inspiring. By not interfering with that power and surrendering to it, her man learns the extent and wisdom of that power. Restraint and abstinence during fertile times is anything but a curse. It makes the sacrament of sex much more soul-filled and satisfying in every way. It teaches a man patience, respect, and humility.
For those of you that have had a child already, think back to the time you first made love after the birth of your baby with the father of your baby. In order to enjoy it, you needed to wait for your body to recover enough before being intimate. That first consummation after birth, many men report having a connection, love, and respect for their wives they hadn't had previous to the birth. That time of waiting, patience, and reflection gave them the opportunity to develop an awe and love of their mate's female powers and humbles them to the fact that they do NOT need a constant flow of sex to be satisfied and happy. In reality, by abstaining during fertile times or during times of recovery or ill health, and instead taking that sexual energy and putting it towards bettering their relationships and connecting with their woman, and by not using sex as the only way to express their love, sex becomes deeper and more meaningful to them, and additionally their wives.
To put these principals into practice, I will give you my own experience, which is still a work in progress, so to speak:
My menarche and early menstruation were typically American, or in other words, a negative, repressed, twisted experience. I was led to believe what my mother was led to believe, that I was a victim of my period and my emotions, and I sure did play the part well. I stressed out about swimming, tampons, cramps, bloating, etc. In my world, menstruation was equal to a bad, inconvenient thing. I blame no one for this, because the information was not available and my mother really was informing me only with what she knew and experienced.
I intentionally remained a virgin until marriage at 20, something my parents did right in encouraging me to do. I had no one to look to for birth control information, except magazines, which spit out information full of holes, and an OB I saw, who eagerly prescribed the pill. I was taught that sex and motherhood were a spiritual matter, but not taught that my fertility was a spiritual matter and therefore didn't make the connection in my 20 year old brain that they were all one in the same. Consequently I didn't bother to consult God on what I should do regarding
birth control. I had a confusing and manipulative 3 months on The Pill, until the Lord practically yelled at me to cease using it, which I am eternally grateful for. Four months later, in July of 1995, I became pregnant with my Roma. This event led me into my passion in the field of fertility, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and parenting.
I stumbled by information on the LAM method by divine intervention, and I gingerly stepped into that world. Because I had no mentors, except studies and research books, and for the first six months postpartum we used condoms periodically. We finally began trusting my body and God, and we stopped using condoms all together when Roma was about 6 months old. My periods returned when Roma was 18 or 19 months and I conceived Ellie at 21 months postpartum. After Ellie's birth, we relied solely on the LAM method and conceived Sage when 2 years and 10 months after Eliie's birth. LAM worked so well that it actually took longer to conceive Sage
than I had wanted. It is important to note that Roma didn't wean until after Ellie was born and Ellie weaned right before conceiving Sage.
Currently Sage is 13 months old and we're still not pregnant. I am constantly amazed at how smart God is. THIS is the way contraception works. For me, contraception was never really necessary because of making
choices that werein tune with nature and also reframing my priorities and, therefore, I regret ever using The Pill.
I wish for women everywhere to truly claim what their fertility is about. I mourn
for those that are never afforded this opportunity, like my mother's generation
and others that are in poor health or demeaning circumstances. Taking
charge of my fertility in this way, instead of Margaret Sanger's way, has been
one of the most empowering things I've done. Women really need only to
depend on wise choices and nature, which is essentially God, NOT man made made devices to control their fertility. And one reason you'll never get this info
Planned Parenthood? They would lose business, if not go out of business.
Can you imagine the autonomy that could be ours today, and years ago, had
Margaret Sanger thrown her energy into promoting this?! Ladies, claim your
STOP depending on artifices instead of your choices and Nature.
The power is within you. There are endless wisdoms that can be yours. No one is keeping them from you but you.
