The audience for this argument was a roof of individuals, both civic and religious leaders, who had come together for a three day conference on the topic Of birth control. In her speech, she demanded the Christian community reconsider their position on birth control stating that it is immoral and unethical to women. In her speech “A Moral Necessity for Birth Control,” she criticized civil and religious authorities about their stance on sexuality and contraceptives.
She was upset with the National Council of Catholic Women, the Christian community and the Catholic Church or keeping women ignorant and uneducated from the advantages and benefits of birth control. Her goal was to insure that people were educated about birth control, by helping cure the problems of over-population, starvation and other linked issues to sex without control. At first she started to convince her audience by answering counterarguments that with the knowledge of birth control, the benefits outweighed the negative aspects.
She uses a strong sense of fallacies and rhetoric devices in her speech to not only get the attention of the audiences, but to give a sense of urgency for the actions that needed to be taken. Margaret Ganger uses vivid examples of fallacies and rhetorical devices in her speech. She uses the words “religious scruples” to show the basic need for power. When Ganger refers to the opposition to birth control she refers to them as “this group are diseased, feeble-minded, and are of the pauper element dependent entirely upon the normal and fit members of society for their support. Her vivid imagery evokes emotion, and the need for aggressive action. In conclusion, I believe it was actually very effective. Of course, she didn’t use facts or other studies to back up what she said, however her constant awareness of her goal and where she was guiding her listeners was amazing. Margaret Sander’s goal was to further women’s rights in the right direction. Unfortunately, she did not live to see the complete fruits of her labor with the widespread use of contraceptive medication. She paved the way so that women like me have the opportunity to choose birth control as a right to explore options as a woman.
