Today we celebrate mothers and by chance, the 50th anniversary of the Pill. The coincidence puts me in mind of an interview with Margaret Sanger for the "This I Believe" series more than 50 years ago. Unlike those who argued against planned pregnancies and contraception, Sanger pressed for such issues because she believed in the absolute importance of motherhood.
"I believed it was my duty to place motherhood on a higher level than enslavement and accident. I was convinced we must care about people; we must reach out to help them in their despair.
For these beliefs I was denounced, arrested. I was in and out of police courts and higher courts, and indictments hung over my life for several years. But nothing could alter my beliefs. Because I saw these as truths, and I stubbornly stuck to my convictions."
As we celebrate our mothers today, we also should celebrate that we now have the choice of motherhood and control over our bodies. As Sanger says, motherhood should not be about "accidents," but about choice.
