Thursday, February 4, 2016

Let's Talk History

Planned Parenthood has had a recent burst of media attention in the past couple of months.  Sure, it has always been a controversial topic on whether it's practices should be funded or not, but lately there has more and more information released about the program.  And only a portion of it is true.

The purpose of this blog will be to educate you on Planned Parenthood, what it is and why it is seen as controversial.  Especially with elections coming up, and each politician having a different stance on the issue.


 
But first, let’s talk about the history of Planned Parenthood.  The program was started by Margaret Sanger, a birth control activist in the early 1900’s.  In order to fight the Comstock Laws, which were a series of laws that prohibited the distribution of knowledge about birth control, Sanager opened up a birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York.  She was tired of seeing uneducated poor women have children they didn’t want – children that would live a life of poverty.

In 1923, Sanager opened up the National Birthcontrol League – which would later be known by its current name Planned Parenthood. 

In 1936, Sanager is arrested for breaking the Comstock Laws, but a surprising twist takes place when there is a review on her arrest.  Judge Augustus Hand, writing for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, ordered a liberalization of the Comstock laws, ruling that women should in fact have access to different methods of contraception. (x)

Ever since then, Planned Parenthood has been providing services to assist women in all aspects, including ones regarding birth control.  The program has been under fire recently because of society’s differentiating view on abortion. 

In my next post, I will be talking more in depth about the different types of services Planned Parenthood provides

8 comments:

  1. It's very interesting how the controversy still prevails a century later!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very interesting topic I would love to know more off as women we have a right to choose and to be informed of this subject. remember that CI blogs are 700 words, aside from that fact your direction seems clear!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was really looking forward to reading your blog when you did your stand and deliver during class because this is a very hot topic right now. Your background was brief, but comprehensive and sets up your topic very well. I liked how you embedded your link with the 'x' instead of tagging the words. My only comment would be that the bright pink format is a little harsh, maybe if you did something a little more subdued it would be more effective. I look forward to reading more in the coming weeks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think this is a good topic because it is very important for people to know more about the topic than just what the media shows.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Right from the get-go, contraceptives of this nature have been such a divisive issue. I'm glad that you incorporated the information about Sanger fighting back against the Comstock Laws and how that impacts the current situation of the issue. I'm curious as to where the coming posts will take your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think the problem with planned parenthood lies over the issue of abortion, not necessarily birth control. In future blogs you should research the history of abortion and how it has developed in our world today. Overall, I believe that this post seemed very informative. However, try to provide more background about the history of it in recent years.

    ReplyDelete
  7. With the amount of media attention that Planned Parenthood has received recently, especially in the light of the coming election, this topic definitely has a lot of relevance. There are so many rumors circulating Planned Parenthood, and I think it could be effective to analyze these rumors and what truths they hold.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is certainly a hot topic, and I really appreciate your willingness to tackle it and help to educate your readers with regards to Planned Parenthood. I knew that Planned Parenthood had been around for quite some time, but I didn't know that it originated in the 20's! Very interesting, and I look forward to learning more in the future.

    ReplyDelete