Skip to content
quotesby

The basic freedom of the world is woman's freedom. A free race cannot be born of slave mothers. A woman enchained cannot choose but give a measure of that bondage to her sons and daughters. No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.

Margaret Sanger#4

RightsEqualityFreedomAutonomyFeminism

About this quote

What does it mean?
A woman must control her body and reproductive choice to be truly free.
In plain terms
Freedom requires women to choose if they will be mothers.
What can you take from it?
Bodily autonomy is essential for true freedom.

Where it applies

  • reproductive rights
  • political speech
  • personal choice

Putting it to work

  • activism
  • legislation
  • education

Questions to consider

  • What makes you feel free?
  • Is bodily control a right?

Another view

It defines freedom primarily through reproduction.

More from Margaret Sanger

  1. Thus we see that the second and third children have a very good chance to live through the first year. Children arriving later have less and less chance, until…

    Permalink to quote #3
  2. Woman must have her freedom; the fundamental freedom of choosing whether or not she shall be a mother and how many children she will have. Regardless of what m…

    Permalink to quote #5
  3. It is apparent that nothing short of contraceptives can put an end to the horrors of abortion and infanticide.

    Permalink to quote #2

Related quotes

  1. There will never be a generation of great men until there has been a generation of free women - of free mothers.

    Robert G. IngersollRobert G. Ingersoll quote #217
  2. This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy and visible differences have been the primary ways of organizing human …

    Gloria SteinemGloria Steinem quote #2
  3. If we confuse dissent with disloyalty - if we deny the right of the individual to be wrong, unpopular, eccentric or unorthodox - if we deny the essence of raci…

    Edward R. MurrowEdward R. Murrow quote #3