History
Harriet Tubman
Along the way, “We the Living” was
re-introduced and became recognized
as a classic denunciation of all forms
of totalitarianism.
After writing her novels, Rand spent
most of her time writing
philosophical articles and speaking.
She was a frequent speaker at the
Ford Hall Forum in Boston. From her
writings and talks, she always drew
large crowds and volumes of written
comments. Some were filled with
admiration, others expressed almost
hysterical opposition. Her last public
appearance was at a Sound Money
conference in New Orleans in
November, 1981. At that point, her
health started to fail and she died in
March, 1982.
Ayn Rand’s influence on our culture
today is evident in many areas and
seems to be quietly growing.
Margaret Sanger
She advocated and popularized birth
control and women’s control over
their own bodies and destinies. For
her views, she was denounced and
harassed by authorities and even
imprisoned briefly.
Unfortunately, Sanger epitomizes the
concept of mixed premises, found in so
many people, both famous and obscure.
She possessed many admirable
principles, but at the same time,
advocated some that make one recoil.
Sanger later wrote that she was
struck by an episode when she was a
young woman. A male immigrant
whom she knew came to her, frantic
with desperation. He and his wife
already had several children. Her
physician had warned them that
giving birth to any more children
would surely kill the wife. The man
deeply loved his spouse and now had
apparently impregnated her again.
In those days, abortions were strictly
criminal and were often administered
by unsavory characters with little or
no medical or sanitary skills. Because
Sanger could offer no help, the couple
attempted to undergo one of these
abortions and the man’s beloved wife
died during the procedure. This
motivated Sanger to find solutions for
women to avoid unwanted childbirths.
Initially, Sanger started to lecture
publicly on the need for birth control.
She apparently did not advocate
legalizing abortion, but instead, focused
on other means of birth control. Sanger
founded Planned Parenthood, the
organization that continues a primary
focus on this control.
Her writings and lectures drew the
wrath of Anthony Comstock. This man,
a vile maniac, was secretary of a
private New York organization, The
Society for Suppression of Vice. He
used his contacts with the Post Office
to seize Sanger’s material as illegal
and immoral. At one point, he
succeeded in having her imprisoned
for indecency. Later, after her release,
he realized that Sanger had become
sufficiently popular so that his further
harassment of her was unwise.
By the time of Sanger’s death in
1966, birth control pills had reached
the market. This revolutionized the
culture and, for the first time in
human history, made family planning
feasible. Although legalized abortion
followed seven years later, with Roe
versus Wade, Sanger’s primary
contribution to birth control was
already in pla