Significant Contributions to Public Health

Margaret Sanger’s contributions to the reproductive health area led to changes at the community and national level. Sanger shifted the view of sexuality from the prohibited and a rarely talked topic to the present perception of a powerful and liberating force (Merino, 2014). The advance favored the issue of birth control because women could enjoy sexual relations without the fear of unwanted pregnancies. In addition, women could discuss the issue of birth control and sexuality with more candor. However, Sanger discouraged people from engaging in excessive sexual encounters, as it would have dire consequences.

Sanger’s works enhanced the freedom of speech by ensuring people view birth control as a free phenomenon rather than a feminist issue (Bristow, 2011). Therefore, women would discuss the issue openly, provide their insights on birth control, and understand the need for the same. In addition, the advocacy for birth control ensured the elimination of laws that created barriers to freedom of speech. The Comstock Law barred the dissemination of birth control information, thereby limiting the extent to which the evidence would reach women. Furthermore, society would change the perception that birth control is the object of lust satisfaction. The advance would ensure women and girls did not become chronic masturbators.

Sanger’s efforts to liberate women and give them the power to control fertility led the Food and Drug Administration to approve the birth pill. The medicine became the first oral contraception for use in fertility control. The capsule consisted of vitamins and enzymes that interacted with the body hormones to reduce the chances of a woman getting pregnant. As a result, women could exercise their freedom to decide when to have children. Currently, the birth pill is the most common type of contraception used all over the world. The pill guarantees a 99% efficiency if used at the appropriate period and in the correct manner (Melville, 2015).

Following the approval of the pill by the Food and Drugs Administration, the Supreme Court filed a suit to declare the use of the contraception a constitutional right of the married couples. The ruling gave women the power to exercise their rights to control birth and thereby participate in the economy more efficiently. Consequently, women would engage in the formal and informal industries, thus contributing to nation-building. The declaration by Supreme Court later extended to unmarried women to allow them to avoid the pregnancies out of the wedlock. Therefore, single women would engage in sexual relations without the fear of pregnancies. The federal government had the obligation of providing funding for the family planning services to approve access for many women in the United States. The aim was to increase the affordability of contraception to many married and unmarried women to caution them from having unwanted pregnancies.

The need to plan fertility gained momentum to extend to the ability to carry out abortions as a way of dealing with unwanted pregnancies. Women advocated for abortion, especially in case the birth control capsules malfunctioned. Consequently, the intense campaign to allow abortion led to the Roe v. Wade case in 1973, which determined that the right to privacy extends to family planning services (Wexler, 2014). Accordingly, the court declaration made abortion legal. The legal bodies argued that abortion is an exercise of the freedom of privacy, and the right of a woman to decide regarding the number of kids and the period to have them. The changes in policies, laws, and attitudes toward family planning have allowed women and men to make better choices in life. People can now decide not to have children.

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Sanger’s contributions apply to date. Technological advancement and intensive research in reproductive health have developed and improved family planning services in every corner of the world. Family planning entails the use of different birth control methods to implement the desired family design. Family planning encompasses a broad range of methods and practices that are not entirely birth control, including, sterilization and abortion.

Family planning services include education, medical, or social activities that enlighten the individuals, including the minors, to decide the number and the spacing of the children (Parry, 2013). Presently, family planning is significant in assuring that the couples have the necessary resources, time, and environment to raise a child without strain. Birth control methods and contraception admit a range of devices for both men and women. The methods allow utilization without assistance from the health facilities and do not have adverse health effects on the user. Consequently, couples wishing not to have children at particular times can investigate a range of products that prevent pregnancy, such as contraceptive birth control, physical prevention, and protection.

Male condoms are contraceptives for men, which is a rubber tubing to use during copulation. The tubing has an elongated tip that collects semen after ejaculation, thereby limiting the sperm from reaching the female body. The condoms limit the exposure of sperms to the female egg. As a result, pregnancy does not occur. According to Fiaveh (2011), male condoms are effective contraception because they prevent unwanted pregnancies and are efficient in protecting against sexually transmissible diseases and infections.

A female condom is a pocket utilized during sexual engagement to prevent pregnancy and the risk of contracting diseases from males. The device has flexible rings on both ends that facilitate insertion into the female vagina during copulation. One of the rings holds the condom in the vagina, while the open-end ring stays outside the female body to enhance a sexual experience. The condom covers the inside of the vagina and collects semen and pre-cum when the male ejaculates; thus, it bars the sperms from entering the vagina, which can lead to pregnancy. The condoms exhibit a high degree of efficiency since they do not have major side effects for women.

The combined oral contraception capsule is a pill for women to prevent pregnancy. The pill contains estrogen and progesterone that replicate hormones produced by the female body. The content of the pill prevents the egg from developing in the female body, thereby reducing the chances of pregnancy occurring in the event of unprotected intercourse. When used correctly, oral contraception has 99% efficiency in preventing pregnancy (Parry, 2013). The user should consume the pill every day to prevent the occurrence of pregnancies.

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The emergency birth control pill is a drug consumed after unprotected sex. The drug is common among unmarried people and youths. The pill delays the release of the eggs from the female body until the male sperms can no longer fertilize it. In addition, the tablet changes the manner, in which the sperm moves in the female body, thereby reducing the chances of the sperm ever reaching the egg. However, the drug does not work after the fertilization of the egg. The pill is most effective within 72 hours of unprotected sex, after which the effectiveness decreases away (Martinez & Abma, 2015). The drug works best for women of average weight, while overweight females should opt for other birth control methods. However, the medicine does not prevent sexually transmissible diseases and infections such as herpes or gonorrhea.

Vasectomy is birth control for men. The method involves the permanent sterilization of men. According to Melville (2015), a vasectomy involves the cutting of the vas deferens tube that propagates the sperms from testicles to the penis. Thus, the male ejaculate does not contain sperms that can lead to pregnancy. The method does not have adverse side effects on the males, but they can no longer bear children. Using specialized doctor services, the man can heal and resume normal daily activities. Vasectomy does not reduce the sexual urge of men or affect ejaculations. Sanger’s contribution to reproductive health has overwhelming benefits that health care providers can utilize to expand and foster public health in the future. Sanger’s contributions relate to achieving policy change to allow only able and sane people to reproduce. Accordingly, there should be enactment to prevent individuals with serious diseases from reproducing to prevent the transmission of illnesses and infections from one generation to another. In addition, the potential policy change will be able to deal with conditions that lack medication. The criterion can help reduce the global mortality rate and ensure healthy kids. Furthermore, limiting people with the disease from reproducing will ensure that government and private institutions do not waste resources on supporting the population. The researchers and the government can divert their resources into other profitable or beneficial projects.

Turda (2010) argues that policymakers can use the Sanger’s contributions to reproductive health to advocate for mandatory sterilization of the insane and physically sick people. The two groups of people have the tendency of multiplying and increasing, thereby presenting challenges in feeding the young ones. The physically challenged people do not have the means of earning a decent living, hence leading to increasing poverty levels. Consequently, policymakers can prevent the poor and physically challenged by having children they cannot take care of. The criterion will ensure a generation of healthy people, who can participate in the growth of the economy of their countries. In addition, the policy change can lead to the education of the street families to foresee a productive and disease-free generation.

Vasectomy in males is a permanent process. Men who undergo vasectomy lose the ability to father children in the future (Melville, 2015). The procedure may cause inconveniences especially in the case of a couple’s divorce and remarriage. The inability to bear children can cause ripples in the families leading to break-ups. The use of condoms has adverse effects on some men. The pockets reduce the sexual urge and satisfaction. Furthermore, the pouches may cause pain to women during sexual intercourse due to the accumulation of friction to levels that causes sores in the women’s vagina. Policymakers and public health researchers should utilize Sanger’s contributions to developing birth control tablets for men. The medicine can allow ejaculation of semen without sperms to ensure no unwanted pregnancies after every sexual contact. The approach can help reduce the burden of family planning on women and allow for the collective responsibility of couples in defining their preferred family sizes. The approach would also increase the families’ certainty that pregnancy may not occur when unexpected. It would be impossible for both men and women oral contraceptives to fail altogether.