National Birth Control League
Encyclopedia
The National Birth Control League was a birth control
organization in the United States
. It was founded in March 1915 by Mary Dennett
, Clara Gruening Stillman and Jessie Ashley. Its main purpose was to overturn the laws which banned contraceptives from the U.S. mails. Campaigns were mounted in New York
, but in 1919 the League was disbanded and reformed into the Voluntary Parenthood League
.
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
organization in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was founded in March 1915 by Mary Dennett
Mary Dennett
Mary Coffin Ware Dennett was an American birth control activist and pacifist. She formed the Voluntary Parenthood League and the group lobbied until 1926 for a bill that would exempt birth control information and materials from federal censorship laws.In 1928 she was indicted under the Comstock...
, Clara Gruening Stillman and Jessie Ashley. Its main purpose was to overturn the laws which banned contraceptives from the U.S. mails. Campaigns were mounted in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, but in 1919 the League was disbanded and reformed into the Voluntary Parenthood League
Voluntary Parenthood League
The Voluntary Parenthood League was an organization that advocated for contraception during the birth control movement in the United States. The VPL was founded in 1919 by Mary Dennett. The VPL was a rival organization to Margaret Sanger's National Birth Control League. The VPL lobbied to...
.
Sources
- Constance M. Chen, The Sex Side of Life: Mary Ware Dennett’s Pioneering Battle for Birth Control and Sex Education (New York, 1996).