ANNIVERSARIES
16 OCTOBER 1916
The first US birth control clinic opens
The groundbreaking facility is set up in Brooklyn, New York
A change in the lives of millions of women in the US was signalled in October 1916 when Margaret Sanger, an Irish-American nurse from New York City, opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn. Though it was shut down after only nine days, and Sanger was imprisoned, it empowered the city’s women – many of whom queued for hours, eager for information on family planning.
Born into a family of 11 children, Sanger well understood the importance of birth control: she witnessed her mother nearly constantly pregnant, crippled by the physical toll of carrying – often miscarrying – and birthing multiple babies. Later, working, aiming to encourage women to claim their reproductive rights; it was soon banned, deemed unfit for public consumption.
