In my opinion, the battles over birth control and Planned

Hear the bold voice of Karen DeCrow, lawyer, feminist, and defender of women’s dignity, who declared with clarity: “In my opinion, the battles over birth control and Planned Parenthood are primarily neither political nor religious. This is an issue of equality for women. This is an issue of women’s rights: Planned Parenthood is the most important private provider of reproductive health care for women in the United States.” These words strike like a bell in a crowded square, reminding all who listen that beneath the noise of debate lies a simple truth: that the question of reproductive freedom is not merely about law or faith, but about the liberty and equality of half the human race.

The meaning of this quote lies in its re-centering of the discussion. Too often, arguments about birth control and Planned Parenthood are waged as political battles between parties, or as religious disputes between doctrines. Yet DeCrow cuts through this veil and reveals the heart: it is about whether women will be free to decide the course of their own lives. Without the power to govern one’s own body, no claim to equality can be complete. Thus, she names these struggles not as abstractions but as women’s rights, the very foundation of dignity, opportunity, and freedom.

The origin of her words comes from her life’s work. As president of the National Organization for Women in the 1970s, DeCrow stood at the center of the women’s movement, when battles for reproductive rights were fierce and urgent. It was the era after the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, when the right to abortion was recognized, but still constantly threatened. She saw how opponents disguised their resistance in the robes of politics and religion, yet at its root, the denial of reproductive freedom was an effort to keep women unequal, confined to roles they did not choose. Her voice was raised to strip away the disguise and reveal the truth.

History offers us examples that shine light upon her claim. Consider the women of the early 20th century, who before the advent of legal birth control and family planning, were often bound by constant pregnancies, with little opportunity for education, careers, or independence. It was only with the work of pioneers like Margaret Sanger, who founded what would become Planned Parenthood, that women began to gain access to the means of controlling their futures. This access did not merely change families—it changed nations, unlocking the talents and contributions of women who otherwise would have been silenced by circumstance.

Yet DeCrow’s words also carry warning. She reminds us that the struggle is not finished, for Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights remain targets of controversy. When access is cut off, it is not merely a political victory for one side; it is the silencing of women’s voices, the stripping of their power to determine their destinies. Equality cannot flourish if half the population is denied control over the most intimate and decisive aspects of life.

O children of tomorrow, take this lesson into your hearts: the rights of women are not secondary or optional, but central to justice itself. Do not be deceived when debates are cloaked in politics or religion; ask always, does this lift women up or press them down? For as long as women are denied equality in health, in choice, in freedom, society itself limps, weakened and incomplete.

What then must you do? Defend with courage the rights of women to govern their own bodies. Support institutions that provide care and access, such as Planned Parenthood. Challenge laws or customs that seek to reduce women to silence or servitude. Speak with compassion, but stand with firmness, for equality is not given freely—it must be won, and it must be guarded.

Thus, the words of Karen DeCrow endure, not as a relic of a past struggle, but as a beacon for the present and future: birth control and reproductive health are not political ornaments but matters of equality, of rights, of dignity. To honor them is to honor justice itself, and to deny them is to deny humanity. Let her words be carried forward, that no daughter may live with less freedom than her mother, and no generation may forget that equality begins with the freedom to choose.