In late March, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton received an award from the Planned Parenthood Federation commemorating Margaret Sanger. Upon receiving the award, Clinton expressed her profound respect for Sanger, and told the gala audience:
"Now, I have to tell you that it was a great privilege when I was told that I would receive this award. I admire Margaret Sanger enormously, her courage, her tenacity, her vision. Another of my great friends, Ellen Chesler, is here, who wrote a magnificent biography of Margaret Sanger called Woman of Valor. And when I think about what she did all those years ago in Brooklyn, taking on archetypes, taking on attitudes and accusations flowing from all directions, I am really in awe of her."
Who was Sanger, and what personal beliefs led her to launch her birth-control campaign? Exhibit A is a fascinating Mike Wallace interview with Sanger conducted September 27, 1957.
Wallace goes after Sanger's positions on a variety of topics, including the reality of sin, the role of children in marriage, and the morality of adultery and pre-marital sex. Wallace's willingness to clearly and fairly articulate the Catholic Church's position on contraception and the moral law feels anachronistic, given the propensity of today's media to put the church -- including an octogenarian pontiff -- on the defensive.
On the other hand, Sanger's answers appear surprisingly contemporary: secular and deeply tolerant. Her enemies list is a short one: It includes the Catholic hierarchy and "delinquents, criminals..." This latter term, I'm guessing, is a reference to her eugenicist views regarding specific social groups that should avoid procreation for the sake of public order. Sanger seems a bit crabby during the interview; she didn't know her social agenda would make it big time.
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