Margaret Sanger and the Origin of the Birth Control Movement, 1910-1930: The Concept of Women's Sexual Autonomy, and: Our Bodies, Our Crimes: The Policing of Women's Reproduction in America, and: The Infertility Treadmill: Feminist Ethics, Personal Choice, and the Use of Reproductive Technologies (review)

I can't seem to help myself—this habit I have of reading everything with an instructor's eye. Perhaps it is an occupational hazard for those of us in academe; for whatever reason, it was this perspective that guided me as I read these three books on the topic of women's reproductive lives. Patricia Walsh Coates's book on Margaret Sanger provided me with an even greater appreciation of her contribution to the options modern women have for reproductive choice; Jeanne Flavin in Our Bodies, Our Crimes illustrates the Orwellian way patriarchy controls women's reproduction; while Karey Harwood in The Infertility Treadmill shares the scholarship that grew out of her meetings with RESOLVE, a national infertility support group.

Coates's aim in Margaret Sanger and the Origin of the Birth Control Movement, 1910-1930: The Concept of Women's Sexual Autonomy is to explore Sanger's early feminist philosophy, which led to her attempt to advocate birth control and sexual autonomy at a time when such views were not only radical, but dangerous. Coates correctly notes that this early pro-feminist message "is often overshadowed by Sanger's connection to the eugenic and medical communities" (3). Early on, Coates reports that her goal is "to explore the roots of Sanger's early message of self-determinism for the cause of sexual liberation" (3). Coates is exceptionally well versed in previous scholarship on Sanger, and she articulates clearly how this volume differs from earlier explorations. She carefully weaves Sanger's own writings throughout the book. Each chapter is introduced with a quote from Sanger—such epigrams and liberal quotes illustrate the passion with which Sanger approached women's right to adequate family planning. Sanger observed that "early in the year 1912, I came to a sudden realization that my work as a nurse and my activities in social service were entirely palliative and consequently futile and useless to relieve the misery about me" (18). This sentiment led to her activism in expanding women's options for birth control and gaining autonomy over their sexuality.

The text thoroughly examines two major influences on Sanger's feminist views: Her nursing practice, and her family. Her mother's childbirth difficulties and Sanger's own experience with being a mother formed a foundation for her advocacy of access to birth control for every woman. Sanger's mother, while ill with tuberculosis, gave birth to and cared for eleven children; she also suffered from multiple miscarriages. This early exposure to her mother's relentless childbearing and miscarriages while seriously ill formed the basis for Sanger's passionate fight for reproductive freedom; her nursing practice with poor women radicalized her. Coates observes that Sanger's work with women having numerous births and dying from botched abortions had a deep impact on her belief that all women are entitled to decent reproductive options.

Because of her ties to the Socialist party, Sanger was asked to write a series of educational articles for New York's socialist newspaper offering mothers advice on how to conduct discussions with their children on the topic of reproduction. The second series, directed toward girls and titled What Every Girl Should Know, was on sex education. Subject matter such as menstruation, venereal disease, masturbation, and abortion were the focus of this twelve-part...