Sanger Founded Family Planning Group

The Margaret Sanger Award will be presented to Vivian Winston on Saturday at Planned Parenthood’s Gala Dinner at the Crescent Court Ballroom.

The award is named for the founder of the American Birth Control League, a network of family planning clinics that evolved into the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 1942.

Sanger was a maternity nurse in New York City’s Lower East Side who witnessed firsthand the toll of unplanned pregnancies among poor families. At that time, birth control was considered obscene and dispensing it was punishable by a $5,500 fine and five years in prison.

Sanger traveled to Europe for information and contraceptives. She coined the phrase “birth control” and launched a magazine, The Woman Rebel, for which she was arrested.

She opened the first U.S. family planning clinic in Brooklyn, and women lined up day and night for the 10 days it was open. Sanger was arrested and spent the next 30 days in the workhouse.

Sanger would be arrested seven more times. And it was not until 1936 that a federal court of appeals, overriding the Comstock Act of 1873, permitted doctors to prescribe contraceptives for health reasons.

Sanger remained active in family planning until her death in 1966.

The Sanger Award recognizes “demonstrated commitment to her vision where every child is a wanted child,” according to local organizers.

A reception for Vivian Winston and Dr. Henry Foster will precede the Gala Dinner. Cost of the dinner is $75, or $100 for dinner and the reception. Proceeds will be used to prevent teen pregnancies.

For reservations, call 326-6292, ext. 104.

, DataTimes