Abortion, Contraception, and Equality: Honoring 100 Years of Reproductive Rights

In honor of Planned Parenthood's 100-year anniversary, we're taking an in-depth look at the history and future of reproductive rights. Read more of our coverage here.

Over the past century, there have been astonishing advancements in sexual and reproductive freedom: One hundred years ago, contraception and abortion were illegal nationwide, and distributing information about birth control was considered a criminally obscene act. Many young women today are accustomed to making their own reproductive choices with little constraint, but several of those freedoms were only recently won—birth control wasn't fully legalized until 1972, abortion was banned until 1973, and at-home pregnancy tests weren't available until 1977.

Planned Parenthood has always been at the forefront of these battles; for a century now, the organization has been instrumental in campaigning for a society that recognizes women's full autonomy and dignity. This has been the case since 1916, when Margaret Sanger opened America's first birth control clinic, spending 30 days in jail as a result. It was the case in 1965, when a Planned Parenthood employee appealed to the Supreme Court to advocate for married couples' right to birth control. And it's still the case today, as activists work tirelessly to overturn unjust restrictions on abortion and contraception access that endanger women's health.

Anti-choice legislators and activists often claim some form of philosophical, religious, or social justification in trying to advance their agenda. The truth is that the history of restricting reproductive rights is a history of demeaning, endangering, and attempting to control women. At its core, anti-choice logic implies that women are incapable of deciding what's best for themselves—that we are stupid, that we are infantile, or that we are somehow morally deficient. But women have always known differently. For thousands of years, we have understood the moral significance of exercising our own reproductive freedom, of deciding what's best for ourselves and our families.

In commemoration of this fact, over the next few weeks, Broadly is honoring the ongoing fight to protect women's agency and to guarantee that no one has to endure forced childbirth because of a political or religious agenda. We'll be taking a close look at the current state of reproductive rights, both on a domestic and international scale. We'll also examine the history and future of the movement—the pioneering women and men who fought for the rights we have now, and the activists on the front lines of the battle today. We've come a long way in 100 years, and we still have a long way to go.