Margaret Sanger and Birth Control (from feminist debates: spring 2011)

Birth Control, eugenics, and the improvement of a country
The eugenics movement was used to "cleanse" America of the "feebleminded" by improving the race of a nation by increasing the reproduction of the best stock (60). Birth control, in combination with eugenics, was then used as a tool to regulate the poor, immigrants, and black Americans (59). Even more damaging and permanent was the use of sterilization as a remedy for social problems (61). "Between 1929 and 1941, more than 2,000 eugenic sterilizations were performed each ... College Major Book