The current state of publicly funded family planning (FP) in New York State has been shaped by a history of diverse women's needs, the efforts of charismatic individuals and successful social movements, the development of agencies, and most recently, negotiated legislation, funding and policy changes on federal and state levels. In this study, FP advocates and providers are interviewed about their work in order to discern their meaning frames. Goffman's frame analysis is referred to, as it has been elaborated by Benford, Snow and others in social movement scholarship. This research introduces an analytical device called a social lineage. The Margaret Sanger lineage triangulates with interview narratives involving inclusion of diverse women in FP access and decision making and the recognition of reproductive and sexual health as human rights. Interview questions focused on the changes and subsequent impacts in the last 10-15 years of FP related policy. Two dominant themes in the interviewees' answers are identified: a commitment to provide services to diverse and marginalized groups of women and families, and concern over ideological barriers to service and information provision.