,,woman ,,and ,,the ,,new ,,race ,,by ,,margaret ,,sanger ,with ,a ,preface ,by ,havelock ,ellis 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,new ,york #aibj 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,dedicated ,,to ,,the ,,memory ,,of ,,my ,,mother1 ,a ,,mother ,,who ,,gave ,,birth ,,to ,,eleven ,,living ,,children 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,preface ,the modern ,woman ,movement1 like the modern ,labour ,movement1 may be said to have begun in the ,eighteenth century4 ,the ,labour movement arose out of the ,industrial ,revolution with its resultant tendency to over-population1 to unrestricted competition1 to social misery and disorder4 ,the ,woman movement appeared as an at first neglected by-product of the ,french ,revolution with its impulses of general human expansion1 of freedom and of equality4 ,since then1 as we know1 these two movements have each had a great and vigorous career which is still far from completed4 ,on the whole they have moved independently along separate lines1 and have at times seemed indeed almost hostile to each other4 ,that has ceased to be the case4 ,of recent years it has been seen not only that these two movements are not hostile1 but that they may work together harmoniously for similar ends4 ,one final step remained to be taken--it had to be realised not only that the ,labour movement could give the secret of success to the woman movement by its method and organization1 but that on the other hand1 woman held the secret without which labour is impotent to reach its ends4 ,woman1 by virtue of motherhood is the regulator of the birthrate1 the sacred disposer of human production4 ,it is in the deliberate restraint and measurement of human production that the fundamental problems of the family1 the nation1 the whole brotherhood of mankind find their solution4 ,the health and longevity of the individual1 the economic welfare of the workers1 the general level of culture of the community1 the possibility of abolishing from the world the desolating scourge of war--all these like great human needs1 depend1 primarily and fundamentally1 on the wise limitation of the human output4 ,it does not certainly make them inevitable1 but it renders them possible of accomplishment2 without it they have been clearly and repeatedly proved to be impossible4 ,these facts have long been known to the few who view the world realistically4 ,but it is not the few who rule the world4 ,it is the masses--the ignorant1 emotional1 volatile1 superstitious masses--who rule the world4 ,it is they who choose the few supreme persons who manage or mismanage the world's affairs4 ,even the most stupid of us must be able to see how it is done now1 for during recent years the whole process has been displayed before us on the very largest scale4 ,the lesson has not been altogether in vain4 ,it is furnishing a new stimulus to those who are working for the increase of knowledge1 and of practical action based on knowledge1 among the masses1 the masses who alone possess the power to change the force of the world for good or for evil1 and by growth in wisdom to raise the human race on to a higher level4 ,that is why the little book by ,margaret ,sanger1 whose right to speak with authority on these matters we all recognize1 cannot be too widely read4 ,to the few who think1 though they may here and there differ on points of detail1 it is all as familiar as ,a4 ,b4 ,c4 ,but to the millions who rule the world it is not familiar1 and still less to the handful of superior persons whom the masses elect to supreme positions4 ,therefore1 let this book be read2 let it be read by every man and woman who can read4 ,and the sooner it is not only read but acted on1 the better for the world4 ,,havelock ,,ellis4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,contents ,,chapter ,i ,,woman',s ,,error ,,and ,,her ,,debt ,,ii ,,woman',s ,,struggle ,,for ,,freedom ,,iii ,,the ,,material ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,race ,,iv ,,two ,,classes ,,of ,,women ,v ,,the ,,wickedness ,,op ,,creating ,,large ,,families ,,vi ,,cries ,,of ,,despair ,,vii ,,when ,,should ,a ,,woman ,,avoid ,,having ,,children8 ,,viii ,,birth ,,control--,a ,,parents' ,,problem ,,or ,,woman',s8 ,,ix ,,continence--,,is ,,it ,,practicable ,,or ,,desirable8 ,x ,,contraceptives ,,or ,,abortion8 ,,xi ,,are ,,preventive ,,means ,,certain8 ,,xii ,,will ,,birth ,,control ,,help ,,the ,,cause ,,of ,,labor8 ,,xiii ,,battalions ,,of ,,unwanted ,,babies ,,the ,,cause ,,of ,,war ,,xiv ,,woman ,,and ,,the ,,new ,,morality ,,xv ,,legislating ,,woman',s ,,morals ,,xvi ,,why ,,not ,,birth ,,control ,,clinics ,,in ,,america8 ,,xvii ,,progress ,,we ,,have ,,made ,,xviii ,,the ,,goal 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,woman ,,and ,,the ,,new ,,race 99 99 99 99 99 ,,chapter ,i ,,woman',s ,,error ,,and ,,her ,,debt ,the most far-reaching social development of modern times is the revolt of woman against sex servitude4 ,the most important force in the remaking of the world is a free motherhood4 ,beside this force1 the elaborate international programmes of modern statesmen are weak and superficial4 ,diplomats may formulate leagues of nations and nations may pledge their utmost strength to maintain them1 statesmen may dream of reconstructing the world out of alliances1 hegemonies and spheres of influence1 but woman1 continuing to produce explosive populations1 will convert these pledges into the proverbial scraps of paper2 or she may1 by controlling birth1 lift motherhood to the plane of a voluntary1 intelligent function1 and remake the world4 ,when the world is thus remade1 it will exceed the dream of statesman1 reformer and revolutionist4 ,only in recent years has woman's position as the gentler and weaker half of the human family been emphatically and generally questioned4 ,men assumed that this was woman's place2 woman herself accepted it4 ,it seldom occurred to anyone to ask whether she would go on occupying it forever4 ,upon the mere surface of woman's organized protests there were no indications that she was desirous of achieving a fundamental change in her position4 ,she claimed the right of suffrage and legislative regulation of her working hours1 and asked that her property rights be equal to those of the man4 ,none of these demands1 however1 affected directly the most vital factors of her existence4 ,whether she won her point or failed to win it1 she remained a dominated weakling in a society controlled by men4 ,woman's acceptance of her inferior status was the more real because it was unconscious4 ,she had chained herself to her place in society and the family through the maternal functions of her nature1 and only chains thus strong could have bound her to her lot as a brood animal for the masculine civilizations of the world4 ,in accepting her rle as the weaker and gentler half1 she accepted that function4 ,in turn1 the acceptance of that function fixed the more firmly her rank as an inferior4 ,caught in this vicious circle1 woman has1 through her reproductive ability1 founded and perpetuated the tyrannies of the ,earth4 ,whether it was the tyranny of a monarchy1 an oligarchy or a republic1 the one indispensable factor of its existence was1 as it is now1 hordes of human beings--human beings so plentiful as to be cheap1 and so cheap that ignorance was their natural lot4 ,upon the rock of an unenlightened1 submissive maternity have these been founded2 upon the product of such a maternity have they flourished4 ,no despot ever flung forth his legions to die in foreign conquest1 no privilege-ruled nation ever erupted across its borders1 to lock in death embrace with another1 but behind them loomed the driving power of a population too large for its boundaries and its natural resources4 ,no period of low wages or of idleness with their want among the workers1 no peonage or sweatshop1 no child-labor factory1 ever came into being1 save from the same source4 ,nor have famine and plague been as much acts of ,god as acts of too prolific mothers4 ,they1 also1 as all students know1 have their basic causes in over-population4 ,the creators of over-population are the women1 who1 while wringing their hands over each fresh horror1 submit anew to their task of producing the multitudes who will bring about the next tragedy of civilization4 ,while unknowingly laying the foundations of tyrannies and providing the human tinder for racial conflagrations1 woman was also unknowingly creating slums1 filling asylums with insane1 and institutions with other defectives4 ,she was replenishing the ranks of the prostitutes1 furnishing grist for the criminal courts and inmates for prisons4 ,had she planned deliberately to achieve this tragic total of human waste and misery1 she could hardly have done it more effectively4 ,woman's passivity under the burden of her disastrous task was almost altogether that of ignorant resignation4 ,she knew virtually nothing about her reproductive nature and less about the consequences of her excessive child-bearing4 ,it is true that1 obeying the inner urge of their natures1 some women revolted4 ,they went even to the extreme of infanticide and abortion4 ,usually their revolts were not general enough4 ,they fought as individuals1 not as a mass4 ,in the mass they sank back into blind and hopeless subjection4 ,they went on breeding with staggering rapidity those numberless1 undesired children who become the clogs and the destroyers of civilizations4 ,to-day1 however1 woman is rising in fundamental revolt4 ,even her efforts at mere reform are1 as we shall see later1 steps in that direction4 ,underneath each of them is the feminine urge to complete freedom4 ,millions of women are asserting their right to voluntary motherhood4 ,they are determined to decide for themselves whether they shall become mothers1 under what conditions and when4 ,this is the fundamental revolt referred to4 ,it is for woman the key to the temple of liberty4 ,even as birth control is the means by which woman attains basic freedom1 so it is the means by which she must and will uproot the evil she has wrought through her submission4 ,as she has unconsciously and ignorantly brought about social disaster1 so must and will she consciously and intelligently undo that disaster and create a new and a better order4 ,the task is hers4 ,it cannot be avoided by excuses1 nor can it be delegated4 ,it is not enough for woman to point to the self-evident domination of man4 ,nor does it avail to plead the guilt of rulers and the exploiters of labor4 ,it makes no difference that she does not formulate industrial systems nor that she is an instinctive believer in social justice4 ,in her submission lies her error and her guilt4 ,by her failure to withhold the multitudes of children who have made inevitable the most flagrant of our social evils1 she incurred a debt to society4 ,regardless of her own wrongs1 regardless of her lack of opportunity and regardless of all other considerations1 she must pay that debt4 ,she must not think to pay this debt in any superficial way4 ,she cannot pay it with palliatives--with child-labor laws1 prohibition1 regulation of prostitution and agitation against war4 ,political nostrums and social panaceas are but incidentally and superficially useful4 ,they do not touch the source of the social disease4 ,war1 famine1 poverty and oppression of the workers will continue while woman makes life cheap4 ,they will cease only when she limits her reproductivity and human life is no longer a thing to be wasted4 ,two chief obstacles hinder the discharge of this tremendous obligation4 ,the first and the lesser is the legal barrier4 ,dark-,age laws would still deny to her the knowledge of her reproductive nature4 ,such knowledge is indispensable to intelligent motherhood and she must achieve it1 despite absurd statutes and equally absurd moral canons4 ,the second and more serious barrier is her own ignorance of the extent and effect of her submission4 ,until she knows the evil her subjection has wrought to herself1 to her progeny and to the world at large1 she cannot wipe out that evil4 ,to get rid of these obstacles is to invite attack from the forces of reaction which are so strongly entrenched in our present-day society4 ,it means warfare in every phase of her life4 ,nevertheless1 at whatever cost1 she must emerge from her ignorance and assume her responsibility4 ,she can do this only when she has awakened to a knowledge of herself and of the consequences of her ignorance4 ,the first step is birth control4 ,through birth control she will attain to voluntary motherhood4 ,having attained this1 the basic freedom of her sex1 she will cease to enslave herself and the mass of humanity4 ,then1 through the understanding of the intuitive forward urge within her1 she will not stop at patching up the world2 she will remake it4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,woman',s ,,struggle ,,for ,,freedom ,behind all customs of whatever nature2 behind all social unrest1 behind all movements1 behind all revolutions1 are great driving forces1 which in their action and reaction upon conditions1 give character to civilization4 ,if1 in seeking to discover the source of a custom1 of a movement or of a revolution1 we stop at surface conditions1 we shall never discern more than a superficial aspect of the underlying truth4 ,this is the error into which the historian has almost universally fallen4 ,it is also a common error among sociologists4 ,it is the fashion nowadays1 for instance1 to explain all social unrest in terms of economic conditions4 ,this is a valuable working theory and has done much to awaken men to their injustice toward one another1 but it ignores the forces within humanity which drive it to revolt4 ,it is these forces1 rather than the conditions upon which they react1 that are the important factors4 ,conditions change1 but the animating force goes on forever4 ,so1 too1 with woman's struggle for emancipation4 ,women in all lands and all ages have instinctively desired family limitation4 ,usually this desire has been laid to economic pressure4 ,frequently the pressure has existed1 but the driving force behind woman's aspiration toward freedom has lain deeper4 ,it has asserted itself among the rich and among the poor1 among the intelligent and the unintelligent4 ,it has been manifested in such horrors as infanticide1 child abandonment and abortion4 ,the only term sufficiently comprehensive to define this motive power of woman's nature is the feminine spirit4 ,that spirit manifests itself most frequently in motherhood1 but it is greater than maternity4 ,woman herself1 all that she is1 all that she has ever been1 all that she may be1 is but the outworking of this inner spiritual urge4 ,given free play1 this supreme law of her nature asserts itself in beneficent ways2 interfered with1 it becomes destructive4 ,only when we understand this can we comprehend the efforts of the feminine spirit to liberate itself4 ,when the outworking of this force within her is hampered by the bearing and the care of too many children1 woman rebels4 ,hence it is that1 from time immemorial1 she has sought some form of family limitation4 ,when she has not employed such measures consciously1 she has done so instinctively4 ,where laws1 customs and religious restrictions do not prevent1 she has recourse to contraceptives4 ,otherwise1 she resorts to child abandonment1 abortion and infanticide1 or resigns herself hopelessly to enforced maternity4 ,these violent means of freeing herself from the chains of her own reproductivity have been most in evidence where economic conditions have made the care of children even more of a burden than it would otherwise have been4 ,but1 whether in the luxurious home of the ,athenian1 the poverty-ridden dwelling of the ,chinese1 or the crude hut of the primitive ,australian savage1 the woman whose development has been interfered with by the bearing and rearing of children has tried desperately1 frantically1 too often in vain1 to take and hold her freedom4 ,individual men have sometimes acquiesced in these violent measures1 but in the mass they have opposed4 ,by law1 by religious canons1 by public opinion1 by penalties ranging all the way from ostracism to beheading1 they have sought to crush this effort4 ,neither threat of hell nor the infliction of physical punishment has availed4 ,women have deceived and dared1 resisted and defied the power of church and state4 ,quietly1 desperately1 consciously1 they have marched to the gates of death to gain the liberty which the feminine spirit has desired4 ,in savage life as well as in barbarism and civilization has woman's instinctive urge to freedom and a wider development asserted itself in an effort1 successful or otherwise1 to curtail her family4 ,the custom of infanticide prevails or has prevailed1 says ,westermark in his monumental work1 ,the ,origin and ,development of the ,moral ,idea1 not only in the savage world but among the semi-civilized and civilized races4 ,with the savage mother1 family limitation ran largely to infanticide1 although that practice was frequently accompanied by abortion as a tribal means4 ,as ,mc,lennan says in his ,studies in ,ancient ,history1 infanticide was formerly very common among the savages of ,new ,zealand1 and it was generally perpetrated by the mother4 ,he notes much the same state of affairs among the primitive ,australians1 except that abortion was also frequently employed4 ,in numerous ,north ,american ,indian tribes1 he says1 infanticide and abortion were not uncommon1 and the ,indians of ,central ,america were found by him to have gone to extremes in the use of abortives4 ,when a traveller reproached the women of one of the ,south ,american ,indian tribes for the practice of infanticide1 ,mc,lennan says he was met by the retort1 ,men have no business to meddle with women's affairs4 ,mc,lennan ventures the opinion that the practice of abortion so widely noted among ,indians in the ,western ,hemisphere1 must have supervened on a practice of infanticide4 ,similar practices have been found to prevail wherever historians have dug deep into the life of savage people4 ,infanticide1 at least1 was practiced by ,african tribes1 by the primitive peoples of ,japan1 ,india and ,western ,europe1 as well as in ,china1 and in early ,greece and ,rome4 ,the ancient ,hebrews are sometimes pointed out as the one possible exception to this practice1 because the ,mosaic law1 as it has come down to us1 is silent upon the subject4 ,westermark is of the opinion that it hardly occurred among the ,hebrews in historic times4 ,but we have reason to believe that at an earlier period1 among them1 as among other branches of the ,semitic race1 child murder was frequently practiced as a sacrificial rite4 ,westermark found that the murder of female infants1 whether by the direct employment of homicidal means1 or exposure to privation and neglect1 has for ages been a common practice or even a genuine custom among various ,hindu castes4 ,still further light is shed upon the real sources of the practice1 as well as upon the improvement of the status of woman through the practice1 by an ,english student of conditions in ,india4 ,captain ,s4 ,charles ,mac,pherson1 of the ,madras ,army1 in the ,journal of the ,royal ,asiatic ,society for #aheb1 said3 ,i can here but very briefly advert to the customs and feelings which the practice of infanticide 7among the ,khonds of ,orissa7 alternately springs from and produces4 ,the influence and privileges of women are exceedingly great among the ,khonds1 and are1 ,i believe1 greatest among the tribes which practice infanticide4 ,their opinions have great weight in all public and private affairs2 their direct participation is often considered essential in the former4 ,if infanticide did not spring from a desire within the woman herself1 from a desire stronger than motherhood1 would it prevail where women enjoy an influence equal to that of men8 ,and does not the fact that the women in question do enjoy such influence1 point unmistakably to the motive behind the practice8 ,infanticide did not go out of fashion with the advance from savagery to barbarism and civilization4 ,rather1 it became1 as in ,greece and ,rome1 a recognized custom with advocates among leaders of thought and action4 ,so did abortion1 which some authorities regard as a development springing from infanticide and tending to supersede it as a means of getting rid of undesired children4 ,as progress is made toward civilization1 infanticide1 then1 actually increased4 ,this tendency was noted by ,westermark1 who also calls attention to the conclusions of ,fison and ,howitt 7in ,kamilaroi and ,kurnai74 ,mr4 ,fison who has lived for a long time among uncivilized races1 says ,westermark1 thinks it will be found that infanticide is far less common among the lower savages than among the more advanced tribes4 ,following this same tendency into civilized countries1 we find infanticide either advocated by philosophers and authorized by law1 as in ,greece and ,rome1 or widely practiced in spite of the law1 civil and ecclesiastical4 ,the status of infanticide as an established1 legalized custom in ,greece1 is well summed up by ,westermark1 who says3 ,the exposure of deformed or sickly infants was undoubtedly an ancient custom in ,greece2 in ,sparta1 at least1 it was enjoined by law4 ,it was also approved of by the most enlightened among the ,greek philosophers4 ,plato condemns all those children who are imperfect in limbs as well as those who are born of depraved citizens4 ,aristotle1 who believed that the state should fix the number of children each married pair should have1 has this to say in ,politics1 ,book ,,vii1 ,chapter ,v3 ,with respect to the exposing and nurturing of children1 let it be a law that nothing mutilated shall be nurtured4 ,and in order to avoid having too great a number of children1 if it be not permitted by the laws of the country to expose them1 it is then requisite to define how many a man may have2 and if any have more than the prescribed number1 some means must be adopted that the fruit be destroyed in the womb of the mother before sense and life are generated in it4 ,aristotle was a conscious advocate of family limitation even if attained by violent means4 ,it is necessary1 he says1 to take care that the increase of the people should not exceed a certain number in order to avoid poverty and its concomitants1 sedition and other evils4 ,in ,athens1 while the citizen wives were unable to throw off the restrictions of the laws which kept them at home1 the great number of hetera1 or stranger women1 were the glory of the ,golden ,age4 ,the homes of these women who were free from the burden of too many children became the gathering places of philosophers1 poets1 sculptors and statesmen4 ,the hetera were their companions1 their inspiration and their teachers4 ,aspasia1 one of the greatest women of antiquity1 was such an emancipated individuality4 ,true to the urge of the feminine spirit1 she1 like ,sappho1 the poetess of ,lesbia1 sought to arouse the ,greek wives to the expression of their individual selves4 ,one writer says of her efforts3 ,this woman determined to do her utmost to elevate her sex4 ,the one method of culture open to women at that time was poetry4 ,there was no other form of literature1 and accordingly she systematically trained her pupils to be poets1 and to weave into the verse the noblest maxims of the intellect and the deepest emotions of the heart4 ,young pupils with richly endowed minds flocked to her from all countries and formed a kind of ,woman's ,college4 ,there can be no doubt that these young women were impelled to seek the society of ,sappho from disgust with the low drudgery and monotonous routine to which woman's life was sacrificed1 and they were anxious to rise to something nobler and better4 ,can there be any doubt that the unfortunate citizen wives of ,athens1 bound by law to their homes1 envied the brilliant careers of the stranger women1 and sought all possible means of freedom8 ,and can there be any doubt that they acquiesced in the practice of infanticide as a means to that end8 ,otherwise1 how could the custom of destroying infants have been so thoroughly embedded in the jurisprudence1 the thought and the very core of ,athenian civilization8 ,as to the ,spartan women1 ,aristotle says that they ruled their husbands and owned two-fifths of the land4 ,surely1 had they not approved of infanticide for some very strong reasons of their own1 they would have abolished it4 ,athens and ,sparta must be regarded as giving very strong indications that the ,grecian women not only approved of family limitation by the destruction of unwanted children1 but that at least part of their motive was personal freedom4 ,in ,rome1 an avowedly militaristic nation1 living by conquest of weaker states1 all sound children were saved4 ,but the weakly or deformed were drowned4 ,says ,seneca3 ,we destroy monstrous births1 and we also drown our children if they are born weakly or unnaturally formed4 ,wives of ,romans1 however1 were relieved of much of the drudgery of child rearing by the slaves which ,rome took by the thousands and brought home4 ,thus they were free to attain an advanced position and to become the advisors of their husbands in politics1 making and unmaking political careers4 ,when we come to look into the proverbial infanticide of the ,chinese1 we find the same positive indications that it grew out of the instinctive purpose of woman to free herself from the bondage of too great reproductivity4 ,in the poorest districts of ,china1 says ,westermark1 female infants are often destroyed by their parents immediately after their birth1 chiefly on account of poverty4 ,though disapproved of by educated ,chinese1 the practice is treated with forbearance or indifference by the man of the people and is acquiesced in by the mandarins4 ,when seriously appealed to on the subject1 says the ,rev4 ,j4 ,doolittle in ,social ,life of the ,chinese1 though all deprecate it as contrary to the dictates of reason and the instincts of nature1 many are ready boldly to apologize for it and declare it to be necessary1 especially in the families of the excessively poor4 ,here again the wide prevalence of the custom is the first and best proof that women are driven by some great pressure within themselves to accede to it4 ,if further proof were necessary1 it is afforded by the testimony of ,occidentals who have lived in ,china1 that ,chinese midwives are extremely skillful in producing early abortion4 ,abortions are not performed without the consent and usually only at the demand of the woman4 ,in ,china1 as in ,india1 the religions of the country condemned1 even as they to-day condemn1 infanticide4 ,both foreign and native governments have sought to make an end of the custom4 ,but in both countries it still prevails4 ,nor are these ,eastern countries substantially different from their ,western neighbors4 ,the record of ,western ,europe is summarized by ,oscar ,helmuth ,werner1 ,ph4,d41 in his book1 ,the ,unmarried ,mother in ,german ,literature4 ,infanticide1 says ,dr4 ,werner1 was the most common crime in ,western ,europe from the ,middle ,ages down to the end of the ,eighteenth ,century4 ,this fact1 of course1 means that it was even more largely practiced by the married than the unmarried1 the married mothers being far greater in number4 ,another problem which confronted the church1 he says in another place1 was the practice of exposure and killing of children by legal parents4 ,a sort of final word from ,dr4 ,werner is this3 ,infanticide by legal parents has practically ceased in civilized countries1 but abortion1 its substitute1 has not4 ,how desperately woman desired freedom to develop herself as an individual1 apart from motherhood1 is indicated by the fact that infanticide was the most common crime of ,western ,europe1 in spite of the fact that some of the most terrible punishments ever inflicted by law were meted out to those women who sought this means of escape from the burden of unwanted children4 ,dr4 ,werner shows that in ,germany1 for instance1 in the year #aecb1 it was the law that those guilty of infanticide were to be buried alive or impaled4 ,in order to prevent desperation1 however1 they shall be drowned if it is possible to get to a stream or river1 in which they shall be torn with glowing tongs beforehand4 ,notwithstanding the fact that at one time in ,germany1 the punishment was that of drowning in a sack containing a serpent1 a cat and a dog--in order that the utmost agony might be inflicted--one sovereign alone condemned #bj1jjj women to death for infanticide1 without noticeably reducing the practice4 ,to-day1 in spite of the huge numbers of abortions and the multiplication of foundlings' homes and orphans' asylums1 infanticide is still an occasional crime in all countries4 ,as to woman's share in the practice1 let us add this word from ,havelock ,ellis1 taken from the chapter on ,morbid ,psychic ,phenomena in his book1 ,man and ,woman3 ,infanticide is the crime in which women stand out in the greatest contrast to men2 in ,italy1 for example1 for every #ajj men guilty of infanticide1 there are #dgg women4 ,and he remarks later that when a man commits this crime1 he usually does it at the instance of some woman4 ,infanticide tends to disappear as skill in producing abortions is developed or knowledge of contraceptives is spread1 and only then4 ,one authority1 as will be seen in a later chapter1 estimates the number of abortions performed annually in the ,united ,states at #a1jjj1jjj1 and another believes that double that number are produced4 ,among the ,hindus and ,mohammedans1 artificial abortion is extremely common1 says ,westermark4 ,in ,persia every illegitimate pregnancy ends with abortion4 ,in ,turkey1 both among the rich and the poor1 even married women very commonly procure abortion after they have given birth to two children1 one of which is a boy4 ,the nations mentioned are typical of the world1 except those countries where information concerning contraceptives has enabled women to limit their families without recourse to operations4 ,it is apparent that nothing short of contraceptives can put an end to the horrors of abortion and infanticide4 ,the ,roman ,catholic church1 which has fought these practices from the beginning1 has been unable to check them2 and no more powerful agency could have been brought into play4 ,it took that church1 even in the days of its unlimited power1 many centuries to come to its present sweeping condemnation of abortion4 ,the severity of the condemnation depended upon the time at which the development of the foetus was interfered with4 ,an illuminating resume of the church's efforts in this direction is given by ,dr4 ,william ,burke ,ryan in his authoritative and exhaustive study entitled ,infanticide2 ,its ,law1 ,prevalence1 ,prevention and ,history4 ,dr4 ,ryan says3 ,theologians of the church of ,rome made a distinction between the inanimate and the animate foetus to which the soul is added by the creation of ,god1 and adopted the opinions of some of the old philosophers1 more particularly those of ,aristotle1 as to animation in the male and female1 but the canon law altogether negatived the doctrine of the ,stoics1 for ,innocent ,,ii condemned the following proposition3 ',it seems probable that the foetus does not possess a rational soul as long as it is in the womb1 and only begins to possess it when born1 and consequently in no abortion is homicide committed4' ,sextus ,v inflicted severe penalties for the crime of abortion at any period2 these were in some degree mitigated by ,gregory ,,xiv1 who1 however1 still held that those producing the abortion of an animated foetus should be subject to them1 viz41 and excommunication reserved to the bishop and also an 'irregularity' reserved to the ,pope himself for absolution4 ,to-day1 the ,roman church stands firmly upon the proposition that directly intended1 artificial abortion must be regarded as wrongful killing1 as murder4 ,footnote3 ,pastoral ,medicine ,but it required a long time for it to reach that point1 in the face of the demand for relief from large families4 ,as it was with the fight of the church against abortion1 so it is with the effort to prevent abortion in the ,united ,states to-day4 ,all efforts to stop the practice are futile4 ,apparently1 the numbers of these illegal operations are increasing from year to year4 ,from year to year more women will undergo the humiliation1 the danger and the horror of them1 and the terrible record1 begun with the infanticide of the primitive peoples1 will go on piling up its volume of human misery and racial damage1 until society awakens to the fact that a fundamental remedy must be applied4 ,to apply such a remedy1 society must recognize the terrible lesson taught by the innumerable centuries of infanticide and foeticide4 ,if these abhorrent practices could have been ended by punishment and suppression1 they would have ceased long ago4 ,but to continue suppression and punishment1 and let the matter rest there1 is only to miss the lesson--only to permit conditions to go from bad to worse4 ,what is that lesson8 ,it is this3 woman's desire for freedom is born of the feminine spirit1 which is the absolute1 elemental1 inner urge of womanhood4 ,it is the strongest force in her nature2 it cannot be destroyed2 it can merely be diverted from its natural expression into violent and destructive channels4 ,the chief obstacles to the normal expression of this force are undesired pregnancy and the burden of unwanted children4 ,these obstacles have always been and always will be swept aside by a considerable proportion of women4 ,driven by the irresistible force within them1 they will always seek wider freedom and greater self-development1 regardless of the cost4 ,the sole question that society has to answer is1 how shall women be permitted to attain this end8 ,are you horrified at the record set down in this chapter8 ,it is well that you should be4 ,you cannot help society to apply the fundamental remedy unless you know these facts and are conscious of their fullest significance4 ,society1 in dealing with the feminine spirit1 has its choice of clearly defined alternatives4 ,it can continue to resort to violence in an effort to enslave the elemental urge of womanhood1 making of woman a mere instrument of reproduction and punishing her when she revolts4 ,or1 it can permit her to choose whether she shall become a mother and how many children she will have4 ,it can go on trying to crush that which is uncrushable1 or it can recognize woman's claim to freedom1 and cease to impose diverting and destructive barriers4 ,if we choose the latter course1 we must not only remove all restrictions upon the use of scientific contraceptives1 but we must legalize and encourage their use4 ,this problem comes home with peculiar force to the people of ,america4 ,do we want the millions of abortions performed annually to be multiplied8 ,do we want the precious1 tender qualities of womanhood1 so much needed for our racial development1 to perish in these sordid1 abnormal experiences8 ,or1 do we wish to permit woman to find her way to fundamental freedom through safe1 unobjectionable1 scientific means8 ,we have our choice4 ,upon our answer to these questions depends in a tremendous degree the character and the capabilities of the future ,american race4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,materials ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,race ,each of us has an ideal of what the ,american of the future should be4 ,we have been told times without number that out of the mixture of stocks1 the intermingling of ideas and aspirations1 there is to come a race greater than any which has contributed to the population of the ,united ,states4 ,what is the basis for this hope that is so generally indulged in8 ,if the hope is founded upon realities1 how may it be realized8 ,to understand the difficulties and the obstacles to be overcome before the dream of a greater race in ,america can be attained1 is to understand something of the task before the women who shall give birth to that race4 ,what material is there for a greater ,american race8 ,what elements make up our present millions8 ,where do they live8 ,how do they live8 ,in what direction does our national civilization bend their ideals8 ,what is the effect of the melting pot upon the foreigner1 once he begins to melt8 ,are we now producing a freer1 juster1 more intelligent1 more idealistic1 creative people out of the varied ingredients here8 ,before we can answer these questions1 we must consider briefly the races which have contributed to ,american population4 ,among our more than #ajj1jjj1jjj population are ,negroes1 ,indians1 ,chinese and other colored people to the number of #aa1jjj1jjj4 ,there are also #ad1ejj1jjj persons of foreign birth4 ,besides these there are #ad1jjj1jjj children of foreign-born parents and #f1ejj1jjj persons whose fathers or mothers were born on foreign soil1 making a total of #df1jjj1jjj people of foreign stock4 ,fifty per cent of our population is of the native white strain4 ,of the foreign stock in the ,united ,states1 the last general census1 compiled in #aiaj1 shows that #be4g per cent was ,german1 #ad per cent was ,irish1 #h4e per cent was ,russian or ,finnish1 #g4b was ,english1 #f4e per cent ,italian and #f4b per cent ,austrian4 ,the ,abstract of the same census points out several significant facts4 ,the ,western ,european strains in this country are represented by a majority of native-born children of foreign-born or mixed parentage4 ,this is because the immigration from those sources has been checked4 ,on the other hand1 immigration from ,southern and ,eastern ,europe1 including ,russia and ,finland1 increased #age4d per cent from #aijj to #aiaj4 ,during that period1 the slums of ,europe dumped their submerged inhabitants into ,america at a rate almost double that of the preceding decade1 and the flow was still increasing at the time the census was taken4 ,so it is more than likely that when the next census is taken it will be found that following #aiaj there was an even greater flow from ,spain1 ,italy1 ,hungary1 ,austria1 ,russia1 ,finland1 and other countries where the iron hand of economic and political tyrannies had crushed great populations into ignorance and want4 ,these peoples have not been in the ,united ,states long enough to produce great families4 ,the census of #aibj will in all probability tell a story of a greater and more serious problem than did the last4 ,over one-fourth of all the immigrants over fourteen years of age1 admitted during the two decades preceding #aiaj1 were illiterate4 ,of the #h1cih1jjj who arrived in the #aijj-aiaj period1 #b1bch1jjj could not read or write4 ,there were #a1fjj1jjj illiterate foreigners in the ,united ,states when the #aiaj census was taken4 ,do these elements give promise of a better race8 ,are we doing anything genuinely constructive to overcome this situation8 ,two-thirds of the white foreign stock in the ,united ,states live in cities4 ,four-fifths of the populations of ,chicago and ,new ,york are of this stock4 ,more than two-thirds of the populations of ,boston1 ,cleveland1 ,detroit1 ,buffalo1 ,pittsburgh1 ,milwaukee1 ,newark1 ,jersey ,city1 ,providence1 ,worcester1 ,scranton1 ,paterson1 ,fall ,river1 ,lowell1 ,cambridge1 ,bridgeport1 ,st4 ,paul1 ,minneapolis and ,san ,francisco are of other than native white ancestry4 ,of the fifty principal cities of the ,united ,states there are only fourteen in which fifty per cent of the population is of unmixed native white parentage4 ,only one state in the ,union--,north ,carolina--has less than one per cent of the white foreign stock4 ,new ,york1 ,new ,jersey1 ,delaware1 ,massachusetts1 ,connecticut1 ,rhode ,island1 ,michigan1 ,illinois1 ,wisconsin1 ,minnesota1 the ,dakotas1 ,montana and ,utah have more than fifty per cent foreign stock4 ,eleven states1 including those on the ,pacific ,coast1 have from #ce to #ej per cent4 ,maine1 ,ohio and ,kansas have from #be to #ce per cent4 ,maryland1 ,indiana1 ,missouri and ,texas have from #ae to #be per cent4 ,these proportions are increasing rather than decreasing1 owing to the extraordinarily high birth rate of the foreign strains4 ,a special analysis of #aiae vital statistics for certain states1 in the ,world ,almanac for #aiah1 shows that foreign-born mothers gave birth to nearly #fb per cent of the children born in ,connecticut1 nearly #eh per cent in ,massachusetts1 nearly #cc per cent in ,michigan1 nearly #eh per cent in ,rhode ,island1 more than #dc per cent in ,new ,hampshire1 more than #ed per cent in ,new ,york and more than #ch per cent in ,pennsylvania4 ,all these figures1 be it remembered1 fail to include foreign stock of the second generation after landing4 ,if the statistics for children who have native parents but foreign-born grandparents1 or who have one foreign-born parent1 were given1 they would doubtless leave but a small percentage of births from stocks native to the soil for several generations4 ,immigrants or their children constitute the majority of workers employed in many of our industries4 ,seven out of ten of those who work in our iron and steel industries are drawn from this class1 says the ,national ,geographic ,magazine 7,february1 #aiag71 seven out of ten of our bituminous coal miners belong to it4 ,three out of four who work in packing towns were born abroad or are children of those who were born abroad2 four out of five of those who make our silk goods1 seven out of eight of those employed in woolen mills1 nine out of ten of those who refine our petroleum1 and nineteen out of twenty of those who manufacture our sugar are immigrants or the children of immigrants4 ,and it might have shown a similarly high percentage of those in the ready-made clothing industries1 railway and public works construction of the less skilled sort1 and a number of others4 ,that these foreigners who have come in hordes have brought with them their ignorance of hygiene and modern ways of living and that they are handicapped by religious superstitions is only too true4 ,but they also bring in their hearts a desire for freedom from all the tyrannies that afflict the earth4 ,they would not be here if they did not bear within them the hardihood of pioneers1 a courage of no mean order4 ,they have the simple faith that in ,america they will find equality1 liberty and an opportunity for a decent livelihood4 ,and they have something else4 ,the cell plasms of these peoples are freighted with the potentialities of the best in ,old ,world civilization4 ,they come from lands rich in the traditions of courage1 of art1 music1 letters1 science and philosophy4 ,americans no longer consider themselves cultured unless they have journeyed to these lands to find access to the treasures created by men and women of this same blood4 ,the immigrant brings the possibilities of all these things to our shores1 but where is the opportunity to reproduce in the ,new ,world the cultures of the old8 ,what opportunities have we given to these peoples to enrich our civilization8 ,we have greeted them as a lot of ignorant foreigners1 we have shouted at1 bustled and kicked them4 ,our industries have taken advantage of their ignorance of the country's ways to take their toil in mills and mines and factories at starvation wages4 ,we have herded them into slums to become diseased1 to become social burdens or to die4 ,we have huddled them together like rabbits to multiply their numbers and their misery4 ,instead of saying that we ,americanize them1 we should confess that we animalize them4 ,the only freedom we seem to have given them is the freedom to make heavier and more secure their chains4 ,what hope is there for racial progress in this human material1 treated more carelessly and brutally than the cheapest factory product8 ,nor are all our social handicaps bound up in the immigrant4 ,there were in the ,united ,states1 when the ,federal ,industrial ,relations ,committee finished its work in #aiae1 several million migratory workers1 most of them white1 many of them married but separated from their families1 who were compelled1 like themselves1 to struggle with dire want4 ,there were in #aiaj more than #b1cec1jjj tenant farmers1 two-thirds of whom lived and worked under the terrible conditions which the ,industrial ,relations ,commission's report showed to prevail in the ,south and ,southwest4 ,these tenant farmers1 as the report showed1 were always in want1 and were compelled by the very terms of the prevailing tenant contracts to produce children who must go to the fields and do the work of adults4 ,the census proved that this tenancy was on the increase1 the number of tenants in all but the ,new ,england and ,middle ,atlantic ,states having increased approximately #cj per cent from #aijj to #aiaj4 ,moreover1 there were in the ,united ,states in #aiaj1 #e1eaf1afc illiterates4 ,of these #a1cgh1hhd were of pure native white stock4 ,in some states in the ,south as much as #bi per cent of the population is illiterate1 many of these1 of course1 being ,negroes4 ,there is still another factor to be considered--a factor which because of its great scope is more ominous than any yet mentioned4 ,this is the underpaid mass of workers in the ,united ,states--workers whose low wages are forcing them deeper into want each day4 ,let ,senator ,borah1 not a radical nor even a reformer1 but a leader of the ,republican party1 tell the story4 ,fifty-seven per cent of the families in the ,united ,states have incomes of #hjj or less1 said he in a speech before the ,senate1 ,august #bd1 #aiag1 ,seventy per cent of the families of our country have incomes of #a1jjj or less4 ,tell me how a man so situated can have shelter for his family2 how he can provide food and clothing4 ,he is an industrial peon4 ,his home is scant and pinched beyond the power of language to tell4 ,he sees his wife and children on the ragged edge of hunger from week to week and month to month4 ,if sickness comes1 he faces suicide or crime4 ,he cannot educate his children2 he cannot fit them for citizenship2 he cannot even fit them as soldiers to die for their country4 ,it is the tragedy of our whole national life--how these people live in such times as these4 ,we have not yet gathered the fruits of such an industrial condition in this country4 ,we have been saved thus far by reason of the newness of our national life1 our vast public lands now almost exhausted1 our great natural resources now fast being seized and held1 but the hour of reckoning will come4 ,senator ,borah was thinking1 doubtless1 of open revolution1 of bloodshed and the destruction of property4 ,in a far more terrible sense1 the reckoning which he has referred to is already upon us4 ,the ills we suffer as the result of the conditions now prevailing in the ,united ,states are appalling in their sum4 ,it is these conditions that produce the #c1jjj1jjj child laborers of the ,united ,states2 child slaves who undergo hardships that blight them physically and mentally1 leaving them fit only to produce human beings whose deficiencies and misfortunes will exceed their own4 ,from these same elements1 living under these same conditions come the feebleminded and other defectives4 ,just how many feebleminded there are in the ,united ,states1 no one knows1 because no attempt has ever been made to give public care to all of them1 and families are more inclined to conceal than to reveal the mental defects of their members4 ,estimates vary from #cej1jjj at the present time to nearly #djj1jjj as early as #ahij1 ,henry ,h4 ,goddard1 ,ph4 ,d41 of the ,vineland1 ,n4 ,j41 ,training ,school1 being authority for the latter statement4 ,only #cd1acg of these unfortunates were under institutional care in the ,united ,states in #aiaf1 the rest being free to propagate their kind--piling up public burdens for future generations4 ,the feebleminded are notoriously prolific in reproduction4 ,the close relationship between poverty and ignorance and the production of feebleminded is shown by ,anne ,moore1 ,ph4,d41 in a report to the ,public ,education ,association of ,new ,york in #aiaa4 ,she found that an overwhelming proportion of the classified feebleminded children in ,new ,york schools came from large families living in overcrowded slum conditions1 and that only a small percentage were born of native parents4 ,sixty thousand prostitutes go and come anew each year in the ,united ,states4 ,this army of unfortunates1 as social workers and scientists testify1 come from families living under like conditions of want4 ,in the ,new ,york ,city schools alone in ,december1 #aiaf1 #fa per cent of the children were suffering from undernourishment and #ba per cent in immediate danger of it4 ,these facts1 also the result of the conditions outlined1 were discovered by the city ,bureau of ,child ,hygiene4 ,another item in the sordid list is that of venereal disease4 ,in his pamphlet entitled ,the ,venereal ,diseases1 issued in #aiah1 ,dr4 ,hermann ,m4 ,biggs head of the ,new ,york ,state ,department of ,health quoted authorities who gave estimates of the amount of syphilis and gonorrhea in the ,united ,states4 ,one says that #fj per cent of the men contract one disease or the other at some time4 ,another said that #dj per cent of the population of ,new ,york ,city had syphilis1 one of the most terrible of all maladies4 ,poverty1 delayed marriage1 prostitution--a brief and terrible chain accounts for this scourge4 ,finally1 there is tuberculosis1 bred by bad housing conditions and contributed to in frightful measure by poor food and unhealthy surroundings during the hours of employment4 ,dr4 ,frederick ,l4 ,hoffman1 director of the ,national ,association for the ,study and ,prevention of ,tuberculosis and foremost statistical authority upon tuberculosis in the ,united ,states1 says3 ,we know of #b1jjj1jjj tubercular persons in the ,united ,states4 ,does this picture horrify the reader8 ,this is not the whole truth4 ,a few scattered statistics lack the power to reflect the broken lives of overworked fathers1 the ceaseless1 increasing pain of overburdened mothers and the agony of childhood fighting its way against the handicaps of ill health1 insufficient food1 inadequate training and stifling toil4 ,can we expect to remedy this situation by dismissing the problem of the submerged native elements with legislative palliatives or treating it with careless scorn8 ,do we better it by driving out of the immigrant's heart the dream of liberty that brought him to our shores8 ,do we solve the problem by giving him1 instead of an opportunity to develop his own culture1 low wages1 a home in the slums and those pseudo-patriotic preachments which constitute our machine-made ,americanization8 ,every detail of this sordid situation means a problem that must be solved before we can even clear the way for a greater race in ,america4 ,nor is there any hope of solving any of these problems if we continue to attack them in the usual way4 ,men have sentimentalized about them and legislated upon them4 ,they have denounced them and they have applied reforms4 ,but it has all been ridiculously1 cruelly futile4 ,this is the condition of things for which those stand who demand more and more children4 ,each child born under such conditions but makes them worse--each child in its own person suffers the consequence of the intensified evils4 ,if we are to develop in ,america a new race with a racial soul1 we must keep the birth rate within the scope of our ability to understand as well as to educate4 ,we must not encourage reproduction beyond our capacity to assimilate our numbers so as to make the coming generation into such physically fit1 mentally capable1 socially alert individuals as are the ideal of a democracy4 ,the intelligence of a people is of slow evolutional development--it lags far behind the reproductive ability4 ,it is far too slow to cope with conditions created by an increasing population1 unless that increase is carefully regulated4 ,we must1 therefore1 not permit an increase in population that we are not prepared to care for to the best advantage--that we are not prepared to do justice to1 educationally and economically4 ,we must popularize birth control thinking4 ,we must not leave it haphazardly to be the privilege of the already privileged4 ,we must put this means of freedom and growth into the hands of the masses4 ,we must set motherhood free4 ,we must give the foreign and submerged mother knowledge that will enable her to prevent bringing to birth children she does not want4 ,we know that in each of these submerged and semisubmerged elements of the population there are rich factors of racial culture4 ,motherhood is the channel through which these cultures flow4 ,motherhood1 when free to choose the father1 free to choose the time and the number of children who shall result from the union1 automatically works in wondrous ways4 ,it refuses to bring forth weaklings2 refuses to bring forth slaves2 refuses to bear children who must live under the conditions described4 ,it withholds the unfit1 brings forth the fit2 brings few children into homes where there is not sufficient to provide for them4 ,instinctively it avoids all those things which multiply racial handicaps4 ,under such circumstances we can hope that the melting pot will refine4 ,we shall see that it will save the precious metals of racial culture1 fused into an amalgam of physical perfection1 mental strength and spiritual progress4 ,such an ,american race1 containing the best of all racial elements1 could give to the world a vision and a leadership beyond our present imagination4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,two ,,classes ,,of ,,women ,thus far we have been discussing mainly one class in ,america--the workers4 ,most women who belong to the workers' families have no accurate or reliable knowledge of contraceptives1 and are1 therefore1 bringing children into the world so rapidly that they1 their families and their class are overwhelmed with numbers4 ,out of these numbers1 as has been shown1 have grown many of the burdens with which society in general is weighted2 out of them have come1 also1 the want1 disease1 hard living conditions and general misery of the workers4 ,the women of this class are the greatest sufferers of all4 ,not only do they bear the material hardships and deprivations in common with the rest of the family1 but in the case of the mother1 these are intensified4 ,it is the man and the child who have first call upon the insufficient amount of food4 ,it is the man and the child who get the recreation1 if there is any to be had1 for the man's hours of labor are usually limited by law or by his labor union4 ,it is the woman who suffers first from hunger1 the woman whose clothing is least adequate1 the woman who must work all hours1 even though she is not compelled1 as in the case of millions1 to go into a factory to add to her husband's scanty income4 ,it is she1 too1 whose health breaks first and most hopelessly1 under the long hours of work1 the drain of frequent childbearing1 and often almost constant nursing of babies4 ,there are no eight-hour laws to protect the mother against overwork and toil in the home2 no laws to protect her against ill health and the diseases of pregnancy and reproduction4 ,in fact there has been almost no thought or consideration given for the protection of the mother in the home of the workingman4 ,there are no general health statistics to tell the full story of the physical ills suffered by women as a result of too great reproductivity4 ,but we get some light upon conditions through the statistics on maternal mortality1 compiled by ,dr4 ,grace ,l4 ,meigs1 for the ,children's ,bureau of the ,united ,states ,department of ,labor4 ,these figures do not include the deaths of women suffering from diseases complicated by pregnancy4 ,in #aiac1 in this country at least #ae1jjj women1 it is estimated1 died from conditions caused by childbirth2 about #g1jjj of these died from childbed fever and the remaining #h1jjj from diseases now known to be to a great extent preventable or curable1 says ,dr4 ,meigs in her summary1 ,physicians and statisticians agree that these figures are a great underestimate4 ,think of it--the needless deaths of #ae1jjj women a great underestimate6 ,yet even this number means that virtually every hour of the day and night two women die as the result of childbirth in the healthiest and supposedly the most progressive country in the world4 ,it is apparent that ,dr4 ,meigs leaves out of consideration the many thousands of deaths each year of women who become pregnant while suffering from tuberculosis4 ,dr4 ,s4 ,adolphus ,knopf1 addressing the forty-fourth annual convention of the ,american ,public ,health ,association1 in ,cincinnati in #aiaf1 called attention to the fact that some authors hold that #fe per cent of the women afflicted with tuberculosis1 even when afflicted only in the relatively early and curable stages1 die as the result of pregnancy which could have been avoided and their lives saved had they but known some means of prevention4 ,nor were syphilis1 various kidney and heart disorders and other diseases1 often rendered fatal by pregnancy1 taken into account by ,dr4 ,meigs' survey4 ,still1 leaving out all the hundreds of thousands of women who die because pregnancy has complicated serious diseases1 ,dr4 ,meigs finds that in #aiac1 the death rate per #ajj1jjj of the population from all conditions caused by childbirth was little lower than that from typhoid fever4 ,this rate would be almost quadrupled if only the group of the population which can be affected1 women of child-bearing ages1 were considered4 ,in #aiac1 childbirth caused more deaths among women #ae to #dd years old than any disease except tuberculosis4 ,from what sort of homes come these deaths from childbirth8 ,most of them occur in overcrowded dwellings1 where food1 care1 sanitation1 nursing and medical attention are inadequate4 ,where do we find most of the tuberculosis and much of the other disease which is aggravated by pregnancy8 ,in the same sort of home4 ,the deadly chain of misery is all too plain to anyone who takes the trouble to observe it4 ,a woman of the working class marries and with her husband lives in a degree of comfort upon his earnings4 ,her household duties are not beyond her strength4 ,then the children begin to come--one1 two1 three1 four1 possibly five or more4 ,the earnings of the husband do not increase as rapidly as the family does4 ,food1 clothing and general comfort in the home grow less as the numbers of the family increase4 ,the woman's work grows heavier1 and her strength is less with each child4 ,possibly--probably--she has to go into a factory to add to her husband's earnings4 ,there she toils1 doing her housework at night4 ,her health goes1 and the crowded conditions and lack of necessities in the home help to bring about disease--especially tuberculosis4 ,under the circumstances1 the woman's chances of recovering from each succeeding childbirth grow less4 ,less too are the chances of the child's surviving1 as shown by tables in another chapter4 ,unwanted children1 poverty1 ill health1 misery1 death--these are the links in the chain1 and they are common to most of the families in the class described in the preceding chapter4 ,nor is the full story of the woman's sufferings yet told4 ,grievous as is her material condition1 her spiritual deprivations are still greater4 ,by the very fact of its existence1 mother love demands its expression toward the child4 ,by that same fact1 it becomes a necessary factor in the child's development4 ,the mother of too many children1 in a crowded home where want1 ill health and antagonism are perpetually created1 is deprived of this simplest personal expression4 ,she can give nothing to her child of herself1 of her personality4 ,training is impossible and sympathetic guidance equally so4 ,instead1 such a mother is tired1 nervous1 irritated and ill-tempered2 a determent1 often1 instead of a help to her children4 ,motherhood becomes a disaster and childhood a tragedy4 ,it goes without saying that this woman loses also all opportunity of personal expression outside her home4 ,she has neither a chance to develop social qualities nor to indulge in social pleasures4 ,the feminine element in her--that spirit which blossoms forth now and then in women free from such burdens--cannot assert itself4 ,she can contribute nothing to the wellbeing of the community4 ,she is a breeding machine and a drudge--she is not an asset but a liability to her neighborhood1 to her class1 to society4 ,she can be nothing as long as she is denied means of limiting her family4 ,in sharp contrast with these women who ignorantly bring forth large families and who thereby enslave themselves1 we find a few women who have one1 two or three children or no children at all4 ,these women1 with the exception of the childless ones1 live full-rounded lives4 ,they are found not only in the ranks of the rich and the well-to-do1 but in the ranks of labor as well4 ,they have but one point of basic difference from their enslaved sisters--they are not burdened with the rearing of large families4 ,we have no need to call upon the historian1 the sociologist nor the statistician for our knowledge of this situation4 ,we meet it every day in the ordinary routine of our lives4 ,the women who are the great teachers1 the great writers1 the artists1 musicians1 physicians1 the leaders of public movements1 the great suffragists1 reformers1 labor leaders and revolutionaries are those who are not compelled to give lavishly of their physical and spiritual strength in bearing and rearing large families4 ,the situation is too familiar for discussion4 ,where a woman with a large family is contributing directly to the progress of her times or the betterment of social conditions1 it is usually because she has sufficient wealth to employ trained nurses1 governesses1 and others who perform the duties necessary to child rearing4 ,she is a rarity and is universally recognized as such4 ,the women with small families1 however1 are free to make their choice of those social pleasures which are the right of every human being and necessary to each one's full development4 ,they can be and are1 each according to her individual capacity1 comrades and companions to their husbands--a privilege denied to the mother of many children4 ,theirs is the opportunity to keep abreast of the times1 to make and cultivate a varied circle of friends1 to seek amusements as suits their taste and means1 to know the meaning of real recreation4 ,all these things remain unrealized desires to the prolific mother4 ,women who have a knowledge of contraceptives are not compelled to make the choice between a maternal experience and a marred love life2 they are not forced to balance motherhood against social and spiritual activities4 ,motherhood is for them to choose1 as it should be for every woman to choose4 ,choosing to become mothers1 they do not thereby shut themselves away from thorough companionship with their husbands1 from friends1 from culture1 from all those manifold experiences which are necessary to the completeness and the joy of life4 ,fit mothers of the race are these1 the courted comrades of the men they choose1 rather than the slaves of slaves4 ,for theirs is the magic power--the power of limiting their families to such numbers as will permit them to live full-rounded lives4 ,such lives are the expression of the feminine spirit which is woman and all of her--not merely art1 nor professional skill1 nor intellect--but all that woman is1 or may achieve4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,wickedness ,,of ,,creating ,,large ,,families ,the most serious evil of our times is that of encouraging the bringing into the world of large families4 ,the most immoral practice of the day is breeding too many children4 ,these statements may startle those who have never made a thorough investigation of the problem4 ,they are1 nevertheless1 well considered1 and the truth of them is abundantly borne out by an examination of facts and conditions which are part of everyday experience or observation4 ,the immorality of large families lies not only in their injury to the members of those families but in their injury to society4 ,if one were asked offhand to name the greatest evil of the day one might1 in the light of one's education by the newspapers1 or by agitators1 make any one of a number of replies4 ,one might say prostitution1 the oppression of labor1 child labor1 or war4 ,yet the poverty and neglect which drives a girl into prostitution usually has its source in a family too large to be properly cared for by the mother1 if the girl is not actually subnormal because her mother bore too many children1 and1 therefore1 the more likely to become a prostitute4 ,labor is oppressed because it is too plentiful2 wages go up and conditions improve when labor is scarce4 ,large families make plentiful labor and they also provide the workers for the child-labor factories as well as the armies of unemployed4 ,that population1 swelled by overbreeding1 is a basic cause of war1 we shall see in a later chapter4 ,without the large family1 not one of these evils could exist to any considerable extent1 much less to the extent that they exist to-day4 ,the large family--especially the family too large to receive adequate care--is the one thing necessary to the perpetuation of these and other evils and is therefore a greater evil than any one of them4 ,first of the manifold immoralities involved in the producing of a large family is the outrage upon the womanhood of the mother4 ,if no mother bore children against her will or against her feminine instinct1 there would be few large families4 ,the average mother of a baby every year or two has been forced into unwilling motherhood1 so far as the later arrivals are concerned4 ,it is not the less immoral when the power which compels enslavement is the church1 state or the propaganda of well-meaning patriots clamoring against race suicide4 ,the wrong is as great as if the enslaving force were the unbridled passions of her husband4 ,the wrong to the unwilling mother1 deprived of her liberty1 and all opportunity of self-development1 is in itself enough to condemn large families as immoral4 ,the outrage upon the woman does not end there1 however4 ,excessive childbearing is now recognized by the medical profession as one of the most prolific causes of ill health in women4 ,there are in ,america hundreds of thousands of women1 in good health when they married1 who have within a few years become physical wrecks1 incapable of mothering their children1 incapable of enjoying life4 ,every physician1 writes ,dr4 ,wm4 ,j4 ,robinson in ,birth ,control or ,the ,limitation of ,offspring1 knows that too frequent childbirth1 nursing and the sleepless nights that are required in bringing up a child exhaust the vitality of thousands of mothers1 make them prematurely old1 or turn them into chronic invalids4 ,the effect of the large family upon the father is only less disastrous than it is upon the mother4 ,the spectacle of the young man1 happy in health1 strength and the prospect of a joyful love life1 makes us smile in sympathy4 ,but this same young man ten years later is likely to present a spectacle as sorry as it is familiar4 ,if he finds that the children come one after another at short intervals--so fast indeed that no matter how hard he works1 nor how many hours1 he cannot keep pace with their needs--the lover whom all the world loves will have been converted into a disheartened1 threadbare incompetent1 whom all the world pities or despises4 ,instead of being the happy1 competent father1 supporting one or two children as they should be supported1 he is the frantic struggler against the burden of five or six1 with the tragic prospect of several more4 ,the ranks of the physically weakened1 mentally dejected and spiritually hopeless young fathers of large families attest all too strongly the immorality of the system4 ,if its effects upon the mother and the wage-earning father were not enough to condemn the large family as an institution1 its effects upon the child would make the case against it conclusive4 ,in the ,united ,states1 some #cjj1jjj children under one year of age die each twelve months4 ,approximately ninety per cent of these deaths are directly or indirectly due to malnutrition1 to other diseased conditions resulting from poverty1 or to excessive childbearing by the mother4 ,the direct relationship between the size of the wage-earner's family and the death of children less than one year old has been revealed by a number of studies of the infant death rate4 ,one of the clearest of these was that made by ,arthur ,geissler among miners and cited by ,dr4 ,alfred ,ploetz before the ,first ,international ,eugenic ,congress4 ,footnote3 ,problems in ,eugenics1 ,london1 #aiac4 ,taking #bf1jjj births from unselected marriages1 and omitting families having one and two children1 ,geissler got this result3 ,deaths ,during ,first ,year4 #ast born children #bc #bnd #bj #crd #ba #dth #bc #eth #bf #fth #bi #gth #ca #hth #cc #ith #cf #ajth #da #aath #ea #abth #fj ,thus we see that the second and third children have a very good chance to live through the first year4 ,children arriving later have less and less chance1 until the twelfth has hardly any chance at all to live twelve months4 ,this does not complete the case1 however1 for those who care to go farther into the subject will find that many of those who live for a year die before they reach the age of five4 ,many1 perhaps1 will think it idle to go farther in demonstrating the immorality of large families1 but since there is still an abundance of proof at hand1 it may be offered for the sake of those who find difficulty in adjusting old-fashioned ideas to the facts4 ,the most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it4 ,the same factors which create the terrible infant mortality rate1 and which swell the death rate of children between the ages of one and five1 operate even more extensively to lower the health rate of the surviving members4 ,moreover1 the overcrowded homes of large families reared in poverty further contribute to this condition4 ,lack of medical attention is still another factor1 so that the child who must struggle for health in competition with other members of a closely packed family has still great difficulties to meet after its poor constitution and malnutrition have been accounted for4 ,the probability of a child handicapped by a weak constitution1 an overcrowded home1 inadequate food and care1 and possibly a deficient mental equipment1 winding up in prison or an almshouse1 is too evident for comment4 ,every jail1 hospital for the insane1 reformatory and institution for the feebleminded cries out against the evils of too prolific breeding among wage-workers4 ,we shall see when we come to consider the relation of voluntary motherhood to the rights of labor and to the prevention of war that the large family of the worker makes possible his oppression1 and that it also is the chief cause of such human holocausts as the one just closed after the four and a half bloodiest years in history4 ,no such extended consideration is necessary to indicate from what source the young slaves in the child-labor factories come4 ,they come from large impoverished families--from families in which the older children must put their often feeble strength to the task of supporting the younger4 ,the immorality of bringing large families into the world is recognized by those who are combatting the child-labor evil4 ,mary ,alden ,hopkins1 writing in ,harper's ,weekly in #aiae1 quotes ,owen ,r4 ,lovejoy1 general secretary of the ,national ,child ,labor ,committee1 as follows3 ,how many are too many8 444 ,any more than the mother can look after and the father make a living for 444 ,under present conditions as soon as there are too many children for the father to feed1 some of them go to work in the mine or factory or store or mill near by4 ,in doing this1 they not only injure their tender growing bodies1 but indirectly1 they drag down the father's wage 444 ,the home becomes a mere rendezvous for the nightly gathering of bodies numb with weariness and minds drunk with sleep4 ,and if they survive the factory1 they marry to perpetuate and multiply their ignorance1 weakness and diseases4 ,what have large families to do with prostitution8 ,ask anyone who has studied the problem4 ,the size of the family has a direct bearing on the lives of thousands of girls who are living in prostitution4 ,poverty1 lack of care and training during adolescence1 overcrowded housing conditions which accompany large families are universally recognized causes of waywardness in girls4 ,social workers have cried out in vain against these conditions1 pointing to their inevitable results4 ,in the foreword to ,downward ,paths1 ,a4 ,maude ,royden says3 ,intimately connected with this aspect of the question is that of home and housing1 especially of the child4 ,the age at which children are first corrupted is almost incredibly early1 until we consider the nature of the surroundings in which they grow up4 ,insufficient space1 over-crowding1 the herding together of all ages and both sexes--these things break down the barriers of a natural modesty and reserve4 ,where decency is practically impossible1 unchastity will follow1 and follow almost as a matter of course4 ,and the child who has no place to play except in the street1 who lacks mother care1 whose chief emotional experience is the longing for the necessities of life8 ,we know too well the end of the sorry tale4 ,the forlorn figures of the shadows where lurk the girls who sell themselves that they may eat and be clothed rise up to damn the moral dogmatists1 who mouth their sickening exhortations to the wives and mothers of the workers to breed1 breed1 breed4 ,the evidence is conclusive as regards the large family of the wage-worker4 ,social workers1 physicians and reformers cry out to stop the breeding of these1 who must exist in want until they become permanent members of the ranks of the unfit4 ,but what of the family of the wealthy or the merely well-to-do8 ,it is among these classes that we find the women who have attained to voluntary motherhood4 ,it is to these classes1 too1 that the race suicide alarmists have from time to time addressed specially emphasized pleas for more children4 ,the advocates of more prolific breeding urge that these same women have more intelligence1 better health1 more time to care for children and more means to support them4 ,they therefore declare that it is the duty of such women to populate the land with strong1 healthy1 intelligent offspring--to bear children in great numbers4 ,it is high time to expose the sheer foolishness of this argument4 ,the first absurdity is that the women who are in comfortable circumstances could continue to be cultured and of social value if they were the mothers of large families4 ,neither could they maintain their present standard of health nor impart it to their children4 ,while it is true that they have resources at their command which ease the burden of child-bearing and child rearing immeasurably1 it is also true that the wealthy mother1 as well as the poverty-stricken mother1 must give from her own system certain elements which it takes time to replace4 ,excessive childbearing is harder on the woman who lacks care than on the one who does not1 but both alike must give their bodies time to recover from the strain of childbearing4 ,if the women in fortunate circumstances gave ear to the demand of masculine race-suicide,a fanatics they could within a few years be down to the condition of their sisters who lack time to cultivate their talents and intellects4 ,a vigorous1 intelligent1 fruitfully cultured motherhood is all but impossible if no restriction is placed by that motherhood upon the number of children4 ,footnote ,a3 ,interesting and perhaps surprising light is thrown upon the origin of the term race suicide by the following quotation from an article by ,harold ,bolce in the ,cosmopolitan 7,new ,york7 for ,may1 #aiji3 ',the sole effect of prolificacy is to fill the cemeteries with tiny graves1 sacrifices of the innocents to the ,moloch of immoderate maternity4' ,thus insists ,edward ,a4 ,ross1 ,professor of ,sociology in the ,university of ,wisconsin2 and he protests against the 'dwarfing of women and the cheapening of men' as regards the restriction of the birth rate as a 'movement at bottom salutary1 and its evils minor1 transient and curable4' ,this is virile gospel1 and particularly significant coming from the teacher who invented the term 'race suicide1' which many have erroneously attributed to ,mr4 ,roosevelt4 ,wage-workers and salaried people have a vital interest in the size of the families of those better situated in life4 ,large families among the rich are immoral not only because they invade the natural right of woman to the control of her own body1 to self-development and to self-expression1 but because they are oppressive to the poorer elements of society4 ,if the upper and middle classes of society had kept pace with the poorer elements of society in reproduction during the past fifty years1 the working class to-day would be forced down to the level of the ,chinese whose wage standard is said to be a few handfuls of rice a day4 ,if these considerations are not enough to halt the masculine advocate of large families who reminds us of the days of our mothers and grandmothers1 let it be remembered that bearing and rearing six or eight children to-day is a far different matter from what it was in the generations just preceding4 ,physically and nervously1 the woman of to-day is not fitted to bear children as frequently as was her mother and her mother's mother4 ,the high tension of modern life and the complicating of woman's everyday existence have doubtless contributed to this result4 ,and who of us can say1 until a careful scientific investigation is made1 how much the rapid development of tuberculosis and other grave diseases1 even among the well-nurtured1 may be due to the depletion of the physical capital of the unborn by the too prolific childbearing of preceding generations of mothers8 ,the immorality of bringing into being a large family is a wrong-doing shared by three--the mother1 the father and society4 ,upon all three falls the burden of guilt4 ,it may be said for the mother and father that they are usually ignorant4 ,what shall be said of society8 ,what shall be said of us who permit outworn laws and customs to persist in piling up the appalling sum of public expense1 misery and spiritual degradation8 ,the indictment against the large unwanted family is written in human woe4 ,who in the light of intelligent understanding shall have the brazenness to stand up and defend it8 ,one thing we know--the woman who has escaped the chains of too great reproductivity will never again wear them4 ,the birth rate of the wealthy and upper classes will never appreciably rise4 ,the woman of these classes is free of her most oppressive bonds4 ,being free1 we have a right to expect much of her4 ,we expect her to give still greater expression to her feminine spirit--we expect her to enrich the intellectual1 artistic1 moral and spiritual life of the world4 ,we expect her to demolish old systems of morals1 a degenerate prudery1 ,dark-,age religious concepts1 laws that enslave women by denying them the knowledge of their bodies1 and information as to contraceptives4 ,these must go to the scrapheap of vicious1 cast-off things4 ,hers is the power to send them there4 ,shall we look to her to strike the first blow which shall wrench her sisters from the grip of the dead hand of the past8 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,cries ,,of ,,despair ,,and ,,society',s ,,problems ,before we pass to a further consideration of our subject1 shall we not pause to take a still closer look at the human misery wrought by the enslavement of women through unwilling motherhood8 ,would you know the appalling sum of this misery better than any author1 any scientist1 any physician1 any social worker can tell you8 ,hear the story from the lips of the women themselves4 ,learn at first hand what it means to make a broken drudge of a woman who might have been the happy mother of a few strong children4 ,learn from the words of the victims of involuntary motherhood what it means to them1 to their children and to society to force the physically unfit or the unwilling to bear children4 ,when you have learned1 stop to ask yourself what is the worth of the law1 the moral code1 the tradition1 the religion1 that for the sake of an outworn dogma of submission would wreck the lives of these women1 condemn their progeny to pain1 want1 disease and helplessness4 ,ask yourself if these letters1 these cries of despair1 born of the anguish of woman's sex slavery are not in themselves enough to stop the mouths of the demagogues1 the imperialists and the ecclesiastics who clamor for more and yet more children8 ,and if the pain of others has no power to move your heart and stir your hands and brain to action1 ask yourself the more selfish question3 ,can the children of these unfortunate mothers be other than a burden to society--a burden which reflects itself in innumerable phases of cost1 crime and general social detriment8 ,for our own sakes--for our children's sakes-- plead the mothers1 help us6 ,let us be women1 rather than breeding machines4 ,the women who thus cry out are pleading not only for themselves and their children1 but for society itself4 ,their plea is for us and ours--it is the plea for happier conditions1 for higher ideals1 for a stronger1 more vigorous1 more highly developed race4 ,the letters in this chapter are the voices of humble prophets crying out to us stop our national habit of human waste4 ,they are warnings against disaster which we now share and must continue to share as it grows worse1 unless we heed the warning and put our national house in order4 ,each and every unwanted child is likely to be in some way a social liability4 ,it is only the wanted child who is likely to be a social asset4 ,if we have faith in this intuitive demand of the unfortunate mothers1 if we understand both its dire and its hopeful significance1 we shall dispose of those social problems which so insistently and menacingly confront us today4 ,for the instinct of maternity to protect its own fruits1 the instinct of womanhood to be free to give something besides surplus of children to the world1 cannot go astray4 ,the rising generation is always the material of progress1 and motherhood is the agency for the improvement and the strengthening and guiding of that generation4 ,the excerpts contained in this chapter are typical of the letters which come to me by the thousands4 ,they tell their own story1 simply--sometimes ungrammatically and illiterately1 but nevertheless irresistibly4 ,it is the story of slow murder of the helpless by a society that shields itself behind ancient1 inhuman moral creeds--which dares to weigh those dead creeds against the agony of the living who pray for the mercy of death4 ,can a mother who would rather die than bear more children serve society by bearing still others8 ,can children carried through nine months of dread and unspeakable mental anguish and born into an atmosphere of fear and anger1 to grow up uneducated and in want1 be a benefit to the world8 ,here is what the mother says3 ,i have read in the paper about you and am very interested in ,birth ,control ,i am a mother of four living children and one dead the oldest #aj and baby #bb months old4 ,i am very nervous and sickly after my children4 ,i would like you to advise me what to do to prevent from having any more as ,i would rather die than have another4 ,i am keeping away from my husband as much as ,i can1 but it causes quarrels and almost separation4 ,all my babies have had marasmus in the first year of their lives and ,i almost lost my baby last summer4 ,i always worry about my children so much4 ,my husband works in a brass foundry it is not a very good job and living is so high that we have to live as cheap as possible4 ,i've only got #b rooms and kitchen and ,i do all my work and sewing which is very hard for me4 ,shall this woman continue to be forced into a life of unnatural continence which further aggravates her ill health and produces constant discord8 ,shall she go on having children who come into being with a heritage of ill health and poverty1 and who are bound to become public burdens8 ,or would it be the better policy to let motherhood follow its instinct to save itself1 its offspring and society from these ills8 ,or shall women be forced into abortion1 as is testified by the mother whose daughters are mothers1 and who1 in the hope of saving them from both slavery and the destruction of their unborn children1 wrote the letter which follows3 ,i have born and raised #f children and ,i know all the hardships of raising a large family4 ,i am now #ec years old and past having children but ,i have #c daughters that have #b children each and they say they will die before they will have any more and every now and again they go to a doctor and get rid of one and some day ,i think it will kill them but they say they don't care for they will be better dead than live in hell with a big family and nothing to raise them on4 ,it is for there sakes ,i wish you to give me that information4 ,what could the three women mentioned in this letter contribute to the wellbeing of the future ,american race8 ,nothing1 except by doing exactly what they wish to do--refusing to bear children that they do not want and cannot care for4 ,their instinct is sound--but what is to be said of the position of society at large1 which forces women who are in the grip of a sound instinct to seek repeated abortions in order to follow that instinct8 ,are we not compelling women to choose between inflicting injury upon themselves1 their children and the community1 and undergoing an abhorrent operation which kills the tenderness and delicacy of womanhood1 even as it may injure or kill the body8 ,will the offspring of a paralytic1 who must perforce neglect the physical care and training of her children1 enhance the common good by their coming8 ,here is a letter from a paralytic mother1 whose days and nights are tortured by the thought of another child1 and whose reason is tottering at the prospect of leaving her children without her care3 ,i sent for a copy of your magazine and now feel ,i must write you to see if you can help me4 ,i was a high school girl who married a day laborer seven years ago4 ,in a few months ,i will again be a mother1 the fourth child in less than six years4 ,while carrying my babies am always partly paralyzed on one side4 ,do not know the cause but the doctor said at last birth we must be 'more careful1' as ,i could not stand having so many children4 ,am always very sick for a long time and have to have chloroform4 ,we can afford help only about #c weeks1 until ,i am on my feet again1 after confinement4 ,i work as hard as ,i can but my work and my children are always neglected4 ,i wonder if my body does survive this next birth if my reason will4 ,it is terrible to think of bringing these little bodies and souls into the world without means or strength to care for them4 ,and ,i can see no relief unless you give it to me or tell me where to get it4 ,i am weaker each time and ,i know that this must be the last one1 for it would be better for me to go1 than to bring more neglected babies into the world4 ,i can hardly sleep at night for worrying4 ,is there an answer for women like me8 ,in another chapter1 we have gotten a glimpse of the menace of the feebleminded4 ,here is a woman who is praying for help to avoid adding to the number of mentally helpless3 ,my baby is only #aj months old and the oldest one of four is #g1 and more care than a baby1 has always been helpless4 ,we do not own a roof over our heads and ,i am so discouraged ,i want to die if nothing can be done4 ,can't you help me just this time and then ,i know ,i can take care of myself4 ,ignorance on this all important subject has put me where ,i am4 ,i don't know how to be sure of bringing myself around4 ,i beg of you to help me and anything ,i can do to help further your wonderful work ,i will do4 ,only help me this once1 no one will know only ,i will be blessed4 ,i not only have a terrible time when ,i am confined but caring for the oldest child it preys so on my mind that ,i fear more defective children4 ,help me please6 ,the offspring of one feebleminded man named ,jukes has cost the public in one way and another #a1cjj1jjj in seventy-five years4 ,do we want more such families8 ,is this woman standing guard for the general welfare8 ,had she been permitted the use of contraceptives before she was forced to make a vain plea for abortion1 would she not have rendered a service to her fellow citizens1 as well as to herself8 ,millions are spent in the ,united ,states every year to combat tuberculosis4 ,the national waste involved in illness and deaths from tuberculosis runs up into the billions4 ,is it then good business1 to say nothing of the humane aspects of the situation1 to compel the writer of the following letter to go on adding to the number of the tubercular8 ,which is the guardian of public welfare here--the mother instinct which wishes to avoid bearing tubercular children1 or the statute which forbids her to know how to avoid adding to the census of white plague victims8 ,the letter reads3 ,kindly pardon me for writing this to you1 not knowing what trouble this may cause you4 ,but ,i've heard of you through a friend and realize you are a friend of humanity4 ,if people would see with your light1 the world would be healthy4 ,i married the first time when ,i was eighteen years old1 a drinking man4 ,i became mother to five children4 ,in #aijh my husband died of consumption4 ,i lost two of my oldest children from the same disease1 one at #af and the other at #bc4 ,the youngest of them all1 a sweet girl of nineteen1 now lies at ---- sanatorium expecting to leave us at any time4 ,the other sister and brother look very poorly4 ,i have always worked very hard1 because ,i had to4 ,in #aiac ,i married again1 a good man this time1 but a laboring man1 and our constant fear and trouble is what may happen if we bring children into the world4 ,i'm forty-six years old this month and not very well any more1 either4 ,so a godsend will be some one who can tell me how to care for myself1 so ,i can be free from suffering and also not bring mortals to earth to suffer and die4 ,not even the blindest of all dogmatists can ignore the danger to the community of to-day and the race of to-morrow in permitting an insane woman to go on bearing children4 ,here is a letter which tells a two-sided story--how mother instinct1 even when clouded by periodic insanity1 seeks to protect itself and society1 and how society prevents her from attaining that end3 ,there is a woman in this town who has six children and is expecting another4 ,directly after the birth of a child1 she goes insane1 a raving maniac1 and they send her to the insane asylum4 ,while she is gone1 her home and children are cared for by neighbors4 ,after about six months1 they discharge her and she comes home and is in a family way again in a few months4 ,still the doctors will do nothing for her4 ,she is a well-educated woman and says if she would not have any more children1 she is sure she could be entirely free from these insane spells4 ,if you will send me one of your pamphlets1 ,i will give it to her and several others equally deserving4 ,hoping you will see fit to grant my request1 ,i remain1 etc4 ,the very word syphilis brings a shudder to anyone who is familiar with the horrors of the malady4 ,not only in the suffering brought to the victim himself and in the danger of infecting others1 but in the dire legacy of helplessness and disease which is left to the offspring of the syphilitic1 is this the most destructive socially1 of all plagues4 ,here is a letter1 which as a criticism of our present public policy in regard to national waste and to contraceptives1 defies comment3 ,i was left without a father when a girl of fourteen years old4 ,i was the oldest child of five4 ,my mother had no means of support except her two hands1 so we worked at anything we could1 my job being nurse girl at home while mother worked most of the time1 as she could earn more money than ,i could1 for she could do harder work4 ,i wasn't very strong and finally after two years my mother got so tired and worn out trying to make a living for so many1 she married again1 and as she married a poor man1 we children were not much better off4 ,at the age of seventeen ,i married a man1 a brakeman on the ---- ,railroad1 who was eleven years older than ,i4 ,he drank some and was a very frail-looking man1 but ,i was very ignorant of the world and did not think of anything but making a home for myself and husband4 ,after eleven months ,i had a little girl born to me4 ,i did not want more children1 but my mother-in-law told me it was a terrible sin to do anything to keep from having children and that the ,lord only sent just what ,i could take care of and if ,i heard of anything to do ,i was told it was injurious1 so ,i did not try4 ,in eleven months again1 ,october #be1 ,i had another little puny girl4 ,in twenty-three months1 ,sept4 #beth1 ,i had a seven-lb4 boy4 ,in ten months1 ,july #ae1 ,i had a seven-months baby that lived five hours4 ,in eleven months1 ,june #bj1 ,i had another little girl4 ,in seventeen months1 ,nov4 #cj1 another boy4 ,in nine months a four months' miscarriage4 ,in twelve months another girl1 and in three and a half years another girl4 ,all of these children were born into poverty2 the father's health was always poor1 and when the third girl was born he was discharged from the road because of his disability1 yet he was still able to put children into the world4 ,when the oldest child was twelve years old the father died of concussion of the brain while the youngest child was born two months after his death4 ,now1 ,mrs4 ,sanger1 ,i did not want those children1 because even in my ignorance ,i had sense enough to know that ,i had no right to bring those children into such a world where they could not have decent care1 for ,i was not able to do it myself nor hire it done4 ,i prayed and ,i prayed that they would die when they were born4 ,praying did no good and to-day ,i have read and studied enough to know that ,i am the mother of seven living children and that ,i committed a crime by bringing them into the world1 their father was syphilitic 7,i did not know about such things when ,i was a girl74 ,one son is to be sent to ,mexico1 while one of my girls is a victim of the white slave traffic4 ,i raised my family in a little college town in ---- and am well known there1 for ,i made my living washing and working for the college people while ,i raised my little brood4 ,i often wondered why those educated well-to-do people never had so many children4 ,i have one married daughter who is tubercular1 and she also has two little girls1 only a year apart4 ,i feel so bad about it1 and write to ask you to send me information for her4 ,don't stop your good work2 don't think it's not appreciated2 for there are hundreds of women like myself who are not afraid to risk their lives to help you to get this information to poor women who need it4 ,there is no need to go on repeating these cries4 ,these letters have come to me by the thousands4 ,there are enough of them to fill many volumes--each with its own individual tragedy1 each with its own warning to society4 ,every ill that we are trying to cure to-day is reflected in them4 ,the wife who through an unwilling continence drives her husband to prostitution2 habitual drunkenness1 which prohibition may or may not have disposed of as a social problem2 mothers who toil in mills and whose children must follow them to that toil1 adding to the long train of evils involved in child labor2 mothers who have brought eight1 ten1 twelve or fifteen undernourished1 weakly children into the world to become public burdens of one sort or another--all these and more1 with the ever-present economic problem1 and women who are remaining unmarried because they fear a large family which must exist in want2 men who are living abnormal lives for the same reason4 ,all the social handicaps and evils of the day are woven into these letters--and out of each of them rises these challenging facts3 ,first1 oppressed motherhood knows that the cure for these evils lies in birth control2 second1 society has not yet learned to permit motherhood to stand guard for itself1 its children1 the common good and the coming race4 ,and one reading such letters1 and realizing their significance1 is constrained to wonder how long such a situation can exist4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,when ,,should ,a ,,woman ,,avoid ,,having ,,children8 ,are overburdened mothers justified in their appeals for contraceptives or abortions8 ,what shall we say to women who write such letters as those published in the preceding chapter8 ,will anyone1 after reading those letters1 dare to say to these women that they should go on bringing helpless children into the world to share their increasing misery8 ,the women who thus cry for aid are the victims of ignorance4 ,awakening from that ignorance1 they are demanding relief4 ,had they been permitted a knowledge of their sex functions1 had they had some guiding principle of motherhood1 those who at this late day are asking for contraceptives would have swept aside all barriers and procured them long ago4 ,those who are appealing for abortions would never have been in such a situation4 ,to say to these women that they should continue their helpless breeding of the helpless is stupid brutality4 ,the facts set forth earlier in this book1 and the cries of tortured motherhood which echo through the letters just referred to1 are more than ample evidence that there are times when it is woman's highest duty to refuse to bear children4 ,there has seemed to be a great deal of disagreement among the medical authorities who have attempted to say when a woman should not have children4 ,this disagreement has been rendered even more confusing by a babel of voices from the ranks of sociologists4 ,within the past few years1 however1 so much light has been shed upon the subject that it is now comparatively easy for the student to separate the well-founded conclusions from those which are of doubtful value1 or plainly worthless4 ,the opinions which ,i summarize here are not so much my own1 originally1 as those of medical authorities who have made deep and careful investigations4 ,there is1 however1 nothing set forth here which ,i have not in my own studies tested and proved correct4 ,in addition to carrying the weight of the best medical authority1 a fact easily confirmed by the first specialist you meet1 they are further reinforced by the findings of the federal ,children's ,bureau1 and other organizations which have examined infant mortality and compiled rates4 ,to the woman who wishes to have children1 we must give these answers to the question when not to have them4 ,childbearing should be avoided within two or three years after the birth of the last child4 ,common sense and science unite in pointing out that the mother requires at least this much time to regain her strength and replenish her system in order to give another baby proper nourishment after its birth4 ,authorities are insistent upon their warnings that too frequent childbearing wrecks the woman's health4 ,weakness of the reproductive organs and pelvic ailments almost certainly result if a woman bears children too frequently4 ,by all means there should be no children when either mother or father suffers from such diseases as tuberculosis1 gonorrhea1 syphilis1 cancer1 epilepsy1 insanity1 drunkenness and mental disorders4 ,in the case of the mother1 heart disease1 kidney trouble and pelvic deformities are also a serious bar to childbearing4 ,thousands of volumes have been written by physicians upon the danger to mothers and offspring of having children when one or both parents are suffering from the diseases mentioned above4 ,as authorities have pointed out in all these books1 the jails1 hospitals for the insane1 poorhouses and houses of prostitution are filled with the children born of such parents1 while an astounding number of their children are either stillborn or die in infancy4 ,these facts are now so well known that they would need little discussion here1 even if space permitted4 ,miscarriages1 which are particularly frequent in cases of syphilis and pelvic deformities1 are a great source of danger to the health and even to the life of the mother4 ,where either parent suffers from gonorrhea1 the child is in danger of being born blind4 ,tuberculosis in the parent leaves the child's system in such condition that it is likely to suffer from the disease4 ,childbearing is also a grave danger to the tubercular mother4 ,a tendency to insanity1 if not insanity itself1 may be transmitted to the child1 or it may be feebleminded if one of the parents is insane or suffers from any mental disorder4 ,drunkenness in the parent or parents has been found to be the cause of feeblemindedness in the offspring and to leave the child with a constitution too weak to resist disease as it should4 ,no more children should be born when the parents1 though healthy themselves1 find that their children are physically or mentally defective4 ,no matter how much they desire children1 no man and woman have a right to bring into the world those who are to suffer from mental or physical affliction4 ,it condemns the child to a life of misery and places upon the community the burden of caring for it1 probably for its defective descendants for many generations4 ,generally speaking1 no woman should bear a child before she is twenty-two years old4 ,it is better still that she wait until she is twenty-five4 ,high infant mortality rates for mothers under twenty-two attest this fact4 ,it is highly desirable from the mother's standpoint to postpone childbearing until she has attained a ripe physical and mental development1 as the bearing and nursing of infants interferes with such development4 ,it is also all important to the child2 the offspring of a woman who is twenty-five or somewhat older has the best chance of good physical and mental equipment4 ,in brief1 a woman should avoid having children unless both she and the father are in such physical and mental condition as to assure the child a healthy physical and mental being4 ,this is the answer that must be made to women whose children are fairly sure of good care1 sufficient food1 adequate clothing1 a fit place to live and at least a fair education4 ,a distinctly different and exceedingly important side of the problem must be considered when the women workers1 the wives and the mothers of workers1 wish to know when to avoid having children4 ,such a woman must answer her own question4 ,what anyone else may tell her is far less important than what she herself shall reply to a society that demands more and more children and which gives them less and less when they arrive4 ,what shall this woman say to a society that would make of her body a reproductive machine only to waste prodigally the fruit of her being8 ,does society value her offspring8 ,does it not let them die by the hundreds of thousands of want1 hunger and preventable disease8 ,does it not drive them to the factories1 the mills1 the mines and the stores to be stunted physically and mentally8 ,does it not throw them into the labor market to be competitors with her and their father8 ,do we not find the children of the ,south filling the mills1 working side by side with their mothers1 while the fathers remain at home8 ,do we not find the father1 mother and child competing with one another for their daily bread8 ,does society not herd them in slums8 ,does it not drive the girls to prostitution and the boys to crime8 ,does it educate them for free-spirited manhood and womanhood8 ,does it even give them during their babyhood fit places to live in1 fit clothes to wear1 fit food to eat1 or a clean place to play8 ,does it even permit the mother to give them a mother's care8 ,the woman of the workers knows what society does with her offspring4 ,knowing the bitter truth1 learned in unspeakable anguish1 what shall this woman say to society8 ,the power is in her hands4 ,she can bring forth more children to perpetuate these conditions1 or she can withhold the human grist from these cruel mills which grind only disaster4 ,shall she say to society that she will go on multiplying the misery that she herself has endured8 ,shall she go on breeding children who can only suffer and die8 ,rather1 shall she not say that until society puts a higher value upon motherhood she will not be a mother8 ,shall she not sacrifice her mother instincts for the common good and say that until children are held as something better than commodities upon the labor market1 she will bear no more8 ,shall she not give up her desire for even a small family1 and say to society that until the world is made fit for children to live in1 she will have no children at all8 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,birth ,,control--,a ,,parents' ,,problem ,,or ,,woman',s8 ,the problem of birth control has arisen directly from the effort of the feminine spirit to free itself from bondage4 ,woman herself has wrought that bondage through her reproductive powers and while enslaving herself has enslaved the world4 ,the physical suffering to be relieved is chiefly woman's4 ,hers1 too1 is the love life that dies first under the blight of too prolific breeding4 ,within her is wrapped up the future of the race--it is hers to make or mar4 ,all of these considerations point unmistakably to one fact--it is woman's duty as well as her privilege to lay hold of the means of freedom4 ,whatever men may do1 she cannot escape the responsibility4 ,for ages she has been deprived of the opportunity to meet this obligation4 ,she is now emerging from her helplessness4 ,even as no one can share the suffering of the overburdened mother1 so no one can do this work for her4 ,others may help1 but she and she alone can free herself4 ,the basic freedom of the world is woman's freedom4 ,a free race cannot be born of slave mothers4 ,a woman enchained cannot choose but give a measure of that bondage to her sons and daughters4 ,no woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body4 ,no woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother4 ,it does not greatly alter the case that some women call themselves free because they earn their own livings1 while others profess freedom because they defy the conventions of sex relationship4 ,she who earns her own living gains a sort of freedom that is not to be undervalued1 but in quality and in quantity it is of little account beside the untrammeled choice of mating or not mating1 of being a mother or not being a mother4 ,she gains food and clothing and shelter1 at least1 without submitting to the charity of her companion1 but the earning of her own living does not give her the development of her inner sex urge1 far deeper and more powerful in its outworkings than any of these externals4 ,in order to have that development1 she must still meet and solve the problem of motherhood4 ,with the so-called free woman1 who chooses a mate in defiance of convention1 freedom is largely a question of character and audacity4 ,if she does attain to an unrestricted choice of a mate1 she is still in a position to be enslaved through her reproductive powers4 ,indeed1 the pressure of law and custom upon the woman not legally married is likely to make her more of a slave than the woman fortunate enough to marry the man of her choice4 ,look at it from any standpoint you will1 suggest any solution you will1 conventional or unconventional1 sanctioned by law or in defiance of law1 woman is in the same position1 fundamentally1 until she is able to determine for herself whether she will be a mother and to fix the number of her offspring4 ,this unavoidable situation is alone enough to make birth control1 first of all1 a woman's problem4 ,on the very face of the matter1 voluntary motherhood is chiefly the concern of the woman4 ,it is persistently urged1 however1 that since sex expression is the act of two1 the responsibility of controlling the results should not be placed upon woman alone4 ,is it fair1 it is asked1 to give her1 instead of the man1 the task of protecting herself when she is1 perhaps1 less rugged in physique than her mate1 and has1 at all events1 the normal1 periodic inconveniences of her sex8 ,we must examine this phase of her problem in two lights--that of the ideal1 and of the conditions working toward the ideal4 ,in an ideal society1 no doubt1 birth control would become the concern of the man as well as the woman4 ,the hard1 inescapable fact which we encounter to-day is that man has not only refused any such responsibility1 but has individually and collectively sought to prevent woman from obtaining knowledge by which she could assume this responsibility for herself4 ,she is still in the position of a dependent to-day because her mate has refused to consider her as an individual apart from his needs4 ,she is still bound because she has in the past left the solution of the problem to him4 ,having left it to him1 she finds that instead of rights1 she has only such privileges as she has gained by petitioning1 coaxing and cozening4 ,having left it to him1 she is exploited1 driven and enslaved to his desires4 ,while it is true that he suffers many evils as the consequence of this situation1 she suffers vastly more4 ,while it is true that he should be awakened to the cause of these evils1 we know that they come home to her with crushing force every day4 ,it is she who has the long burden of carrying1 bearing and rearing the unwanted children4 ,it is she who must watch beside the beds of pain where lie the babies who suffer because they have come into overcrowded homes4 ,it is her heart that the sight of the deformed1 the subnormal1 the undernourished1 the overworked child smites first and oftenest and hardest4 ,it is her love life that dies first in the fear of undesired pregnancy4 ,it is her opportunity for self expression that perishes first and most hopelessly because of it4 ,conditions1 rather than theories1 facts1 rather than dreams1 govern the problem4 ,they place it squarely upon the shoulders of woman4 ,she has learned that whatever the moral responsibility of the man in this direction may be1 he does not discharge it4 ,she has learned that1 lovable and considerate as the individual husband may be1 she has nothing to expect from men in the mass1 when they make laws and decree customs4 ,she knows that regardless of what ought to be1 the brutal1 unavoidable fact is that she will never receive her freedom until she takes it for herself4 ,having learned this much1 she has yet something more to learn4 ,women are too much inclined to follow in the footsteps of men1 to try to think as men think1 to try to solve the general problems of life as men solve them4 ,if after attaining their freedom1 women accept conditions in the spheres of government1 industry1 art1 morals and religion as they find them1 they will be but taking a leaf out of man's book4 ,the woman is not needed to do man's work4 ,she is not needed to think man's thoughts4 ,she need not fear that the masculine mind1 almost universally dominant1 will fail to take care of its own4 ,her mission is not to enhance the masculine spirit1 but to express the feminine2 hers is not to preserve a man-made world1 but to create a human world by the infusion of the feminine element into all of its activities4 ,woman must not accept2 she must challenge4 ,she must not be awed by that which has been built up around her2 she must reverence that within her which struggles for expression4 ,her eyes must be less upon what is and more clearly upon what should be4 ,she must listen only with a frankly questioning attitude to the dogmatized opinions of man-made society4 ,when she chooses her new1 free course of action1 it must be in the light of her own opinion--of her own intuition4 ,only so can she give play to the feminine spirit4 ,only thus can she free her mate from the bondage which he wrought for himself when he wrought hers4 ,only thus can she restore to him that of which he robbed himself in restricting her4 ,only thus can she remake the world4 ,the world is1 indeed1 hers to remake1 it is hers to build and to recreate4 ,even as she has permitted the suppression of her own feminine element and the consequent impoverishment of industry1 art1 letters1 science1 morals1 religions and social intercourse1 so it is hers to enrich all these4 ,woman must have her freedom--the fundamental freedom of choosing whether or not she shall be a mother and how many children she will have4 ,regardless of what man's attitude may be1 that problem is hers--and before it can be his1 it is hers alone4 ,she goes through the vale of death alone1 each time a babe is born4 ,as it is the right neither of man nor the state to coerce her into this ordeal1 so it is her right to decide whether she will endure it4 ,that right to decide imposes upon her the duty of clearing the way to knowledge by which she may make and carry out the decision4 ,birth control is woman's problem4 ,the quicker she accepts it as hers and hers alone1 the quicker will society respect motherhood4 ,the quicker1 too1 will the world be made a fit place for her children to live4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,continence--,,is ,,it ,,practicable ,,or ,,desirable8 ,thousands of well-intentioned people who agree that there are times and conditions under which it is woman's highest duty to avoid having children advocate continence as the one permissible means of birth control4 ,few of these people agree with one another1 however1 as to what continence is4 ,some have in mind absolute continence4 ,others urge continence for periods varying from a few weeks to many years4 ,still others are thinking of ,karezza1 or male continence1 as it is sometimes called4 ,the majority of physicians and sex psychologists hold that the practice of absolute continence is1 for the greater part of the human race1 an absurdity4 ,were such continence to be practiced1 there is no doubt that it would be a most effective check upon the birth rate4 ,it is seldom practiced1 however1 and when adhered to under compulsion the usual result is injury to the nervous system and to the general health4 ,among healthy persons1 this method is practicable only with those who have a degree of mentally controlled development as yet neither often experienced nor even imagined by the mass of humanity4 ,absolute continence was the ideal of the early ,christian church for all of its communicants1 as shall be seen in another chapter4 ,we shall also see how the church abandoned this standard and now confines the doctrine of celibacy to the unmarried1 to the priesthood and the nuns4 ,celibacy has been practiced in all ages by a few artists1 propagandists and revolutionists in order that their minds may be single to the work which has claimed their lives and all the forces of their beings may be bent in one direction4 ,sometimes1 too1 such persons have remained celibate to avoid the burden of caring for a family4 ,the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,thomas ,robert ,malthus1 who in #agih issued the first of those works which exemplified what is called the ,malthusian doctrine1 also advocated celibacy or absolute continence until middle age4 ,malthus propounded the now widely recognized principle that population tends to increase faster than the food supply and that unlimited reproduction brings poverty and many other evils upon a nation4 ,his theological training naturally inclined him to favor continence--not so much from its practicability1 perhaps1 as because he believed that it was the only possible method4 ,we would be ignoring a vital truth if we failed to recognize the fact that there are individuals who through absorption in religious zeal1 consecration to a cause1 or devotion to creative work are able to live for years or for a lifetime a celibate existence4 ,it is doubtless true that the number of those who are thus able to transmute their sex forces into other creative forms is increasing4 ,it is not with these1 however1 that we are concerned4 ,rather it is with the mass of humanity1 who practice continence under some sort of compulsion4 ,what is the result of forcing continence upon those who are not fitted or do not desire to practice it8 ,the majority opinion of medical science and the evidence of statistics are united on this point4 ,enforced continence is injurious--often highly so4 ,physiology1 writes ,dr4 ,j4 ,rutgers in ,rassenverbesserung1 teaches that every function gains in power and efficiency through a certain degree of control1 but that the too extended suppression of a desire gives rise to pathological disturbances and in time cripples the function4 ,especially in the case of women may the damage entailed by too long continued sexual abstinence bring about deep disturbances4 ,all this1 be it understood1 refers to persons of mature age4 ,for young men and women under certain ages1 statistics and the preponderance of medical opinion agree that continence is highly advisable1 in many cases seemingly altogether necessary to future happiness4 ,the famous ,dr4 ,bertillon1 of ,france1 inventor of the ,bertillon system of measurements for the human body1 has made1 perhaps1 the most exhaustive of all studies in this direction4 ,he demonstrates a large mortality for the boy who marries before his twentieth year4 ,when single1 the mortality of ,french youths averages only #ad per thousand2 among married youths it rises to #ajj per thousand4 ,which shows that it is six or eight times more perilous for a youth to be incontinent than continent up to that age4 ,dr4 ,bertillon's conclusions are that men should marry between their twenty-fifth and thirtieth years1 and that women should marry when they have passed twenty4 ,with the single exception of young men and women below the ages noted1 ,dr4 ,bertillon's statistics tell a very different story4 ,and where it relates to celibates1 it is a shocking one4 ,dr4 ,bertillon shows that in ,france1 ,belgium and ,holland married men live considerably longer than single ones1 writes ,dr4 ,charles ,r4 ,drysdale1 in summing up the matter in ,the ,population ,question and are much less subject to becoming insane1 criminal or vicious4 ,from the same studies we learn that the conjugal state is also more favorable to the health of the woman over twenty years of age1 in the three countries covered4 ,an analysis of criminal records showed that more than twice as many unmarried men and women had been held for crimes of all kinds than married persons4 ,rates based upon #aj1jjj cases of insanity among men and women in the same countries showed #c4ie per thousand for male celibates against #b4ag for married men4 ,for single women the rate was #c4d against but #a4i for married women4 ,insanity was reduced one-half among women by marriage4 ,more startling still is the evidence of the mortality statistics4 ,bertillon found that the death rates of bachelors and widowers averaged from nearly two to nearly three times as high as those of married men of the same ages4 ,dr4 ,mayer1 in his ,rapports ,conjugaux1 showed that the death rates among the celibate religious orders studied were nearly twice as high as those of the laity4 ,can anyone knowing the facts ask that we recommend continence as a birth-control measure8 ,virtually all of the dangers to health involved in absolute continence are involved also in the practice of continence broken only when it is desired to bring a child into the world4 ,in the opinion of some medical authorities1 it is even worse1 because of the almost constant excitation of unsatisfied sex desire by the presence of the mate4 ,people who think that they believe in this sort of family limitation have much to say about self-control4 ,usually they will admit that to abstain from all but a single act of sexual intercourse each year is an indication of high powers of self-restraint4 ,yet that one act1 performed only once a year1 might be sufficient to keep a woman with one child in her womb and another at her breast during her entire childbearing period4 ,that would mean from eighteen to twenty-four children for each mother1 provided she survived so many births and lactations4 ,contraceptives are quite as necessary to these self-controlled ones who do not desire children every year as to those who lead normal1 happy love lives4 ,from the necessity of contraceptives and from the dangers of this limited continence certain persons are1 of course1 relieved4 ,they are the ones whose mental and spiritual development is so high as to make this practice natural to them4 ,these individuals are so exceedingly rare1 however1 that they need not be discussed here4 ,moreover1 they are capable of solving their own problems4 ,few who advocate the doctrine of absolute continence live up to it strictly4 ,i met one woman who assured me that she had observed it faithfully in the thirteen years since her youngest child was born4 ,she had such a loathing for sexual union1 however1 that it was doubtless the easiest and best thing for her to do4 ,loathing1 disgust or indifference to the sex relationship nearly always lies behind the advocacy to continence except for the conscious purpose of creating children4 ,in other words1 while one in ten thousand persons may find full play for a diverted and transmuted sex force in other creative functions1 the rest avoid the sex union from repression4 ,these are two widely different situations--one may make for racial progress and the happiness of the few individuals capable of it2 the other poisons the race at its fountain and brings nothing but the discontent1 unhappiness and misery which follow enforced continence4 ,for all that1 an increasing number of persons1 mostly women1 are advocating continence within marriage4 ,sexual union is nearly always spoken of by such persons as something in itself repugnant1 disgusting1 low and lustful4 ,consciously or unconsciously1 they look upon it as a hardship1 to be endured only1 to bring ,god's image and likeness into the world4 ,their very attitude precludes any great probability that their progeny will possess an abundance of such qualities4 ,much of the responsibility for this feeling upon the part of many thousands of women must be laid to two thousand years of ,christian teaching that all sex expression is unclean4 ,part of it1 too1 must be laid to the dominant male's habit of violating the love rights of his mate4 ,the habit referred to grows out of the assumed and legalized right of the husband to have sexual satisfaction at any time he desires1 regardless of the woman's repugnance for it4 ,the law of the state upholds him in this regard4 ,a husband need not support his wife if she refuses to comply with his sexual demands4 ,of the two groups of women who regard physical union either with disgust and loathing1 or with indifference1 the former are the less numerous4 ,nevertheless1 there are many thousands of them4 ,i have listened to their stories often1 both as a nurse in obstetrical cases and as a propagandist for birth control4 ,an almost universal cause of their attitude is a sad lack of understanding of the great beauties of the normal1 idealistic love act4 ,neither do they understand the uplifting power of such unions for both men and women4 ,ignorance of life1 ignorance of all but the sheer reproductive function of mating1 and especially a wrong training1 are most largely responsible for this tragic state of affairs4 ,when this ignorance extends to the man in such a degree as to permit him to have the all too frequent coarse and brutal attitude toward sex matters1 the tragedy is only deepened4 ,truly the church and those moralists who have been insisting upon keeping sex matters in the dark have a huge list of concealed crimes to answer for4 ,the right kind of a book1 a series of clear1 scientific lectures1 or a common-sense talk with either the man or woman will often do away with most of the repugnance to physical union4 ,when the repugnance is gone1 the way is open to that upliftment through sex idealism which is the birthright of all women and men4 ,when ,i have had the confidence of women indifferent to physical union1 ,i have found the fault usually lay with the husband4 ,his idea of marriage is too often that of providing a home for a female who would in turn provide for his physical needs1 including sexual satisfaction4 ,such a husband usually excludes such satisfaction from the category of the wife's needs1 physical or spiritual4 ,this man is not concerned with his wife's sex urge1 save as it responds to his own at times of his choosing4 ,man's code has taught woman to be quite ashamed of such desires4 ,usually she speaks of indifference without regret2 often proudly4 ,she seems to regard herself as more chaste and highly endowed in purity than other women who confess to feeling physical attraction toward their husbands4 ,she also secretly considers herself far superior to the husband who makes no concealment of his desire toward her4 ,nevertheless1 because of this desire upon the husband's part1 she goes on pretending to mutual interest in the relationship4 ,only the truth1 plainly spoken1 can help these people4 ,the woman is condemned to physical1 mental and spiritual misery by the ignorance which society has fixed upon her4 ,she has her choice between an enforced continence1 with its health-wrecking consequences and its constant aggravation of domestic discord1 and the sort of prostitution legalized by the marriage ceremony4 ,the man may choose between enforced continence and its effects1 or he may resort to an unmarried relationship or to prostitution4 ,neither of these people--the one schooled directly or indirectly by the church and the other trained in the sex ethics of the gutter--can hope to lift the other to the regenerating influences of a pure1 clean1 happy love life4 ,as long as we leave sex education to the gutter and houses of prostitution1 we shall have millions of just such miserable marriage failures4 ,such continence as is involved in dependence upon the so-called safe period for family limitation will harm no one4 ,the difficulty here is that the method is not practical4 ,it simply does not work4 ,the woman who employs this method finds herself in the same predicament as the one who believes that she is not in danger of pregnancy when she does not respond passionately to her husband4 ,that this woman is more likely to conceive than the emotional one1 is a well-known fact4 ,the woman who refuses to use contraceptives1 but who rejects sex expression except for a few days in the month1 is likely to learn too soon the fallacy of her theory as a birth-control method4 ,for a long time the safe period was suggested by physicians4 ,it was also the one method of birth control countenanced by the ecclesiastics4 ,women are learning from experience and specialists are discovering by investigation that the safe period is anything but safe for all women4 ,some women are never free from the possibility of conception from puberty to the menopause4 ,others seemingly have safe periods for a time1 only to become pregnant when they have begun to feel secure in their theory4 ,here again1 continence must give way1 as a method of birth control1 to contraceptives4 ,in the same category as the safe period1 as a method of birth control1 must be placed so-called male continence4 ,the same practice is also variously known as ,karezza1 ,sedular ,absorption and ,zugassent's ,discovery4 ,those who regard it as a method of family limitation are likely to find themselves disappointed4 ,as a form of continence1 however1 if it can be called continence1 it is asserted to bring none of the long course of evils which too often follow the practice of lifelong abstinence1 or abstinence broken only when a child is desired4 ,its devotees testify that they avoid ill effects and achieve the highest possible results4 ,these results are due1 probably1 to two factors4 ,first1 those who practice ,karezza are usually of a high mental and spiritual development and are1 therefore1 capable of an exalted degree of self-control without actual repression4 ,second1 they have the benefit of that magnetic interchange between man and woman which makes for physical1 mental and spiritual wellbeing4 ,this stimulation becomes destructive irritation in ordinary forms of continence4 ,the ,oneida ,community1 a religious group comprising about #acj men and #aej women1 which occupied a part of an old ,indian reservation in the state of ,new ,york1 were the chief exponents of male continence4 ,the practice was a religious requirement with them and they laid great stress upon three different functions which they attributed to the sexual organs4 ,they held that these functions were urinary1 reproductive and amative1 each separate and distinct in its use from the others4 ,cases are cited in which both men and women are said to have preserved their youth and their sexual powers to a ripe old age1 and to have prolonged their honeymoons throughout married life4 ,the theory1 however1 interesting as it may be when considered as continence1 is not to be relied upon as a method of birth control4 ,summing it all up1 then1 continence may meet the needs of a few natures1 but it does not meet the needs of the masses4 ,to enforce continence upon those whose natures do not demand it1 is an injustice1 the cruelty and the danger of which has been underestimated rather than exaggerated4 ,it matters not whether this wrong is committed by the church1 through some outworn dogma2 by the state1 through the laws prohibiting contraceptives1 or by society1 through the conditions which prevent marriage when young men and women reach the age at which they have need of marriage4 ,the world has been governed too long by repression4 ,the more fundamental the force that is repressed the more destructive its action4 ,the disastrous effects of repressing the sex force are written plainly in the health rates1 the mortality statistics1 the records of crime and the entry books of the hospitals for the insane4 ,yet this is not all the tale1 for there are still the little understood hosts of sexually abnormal people and the monotonous misery of millions who do not die early nor end violently1 but who are1 nevertheless1 devoid of the joys of a natural love life4 ,as a means of birth control1 continence is as impracticable for most people as it is undesirable4 ,celibate women doubtless have their place in the regeneration of the world1 but it is not they1 after all1 who will1 through experience and understanding recreate it4 ,it is mainly through fullness of expression and experience in life that the mass of women1 having attained freedom1 will accomplish this unparalleled task4 ,the need of women's lives is not repression1 but the greatest possible expression and fulfillment of their desires upon the highest possible plane4 ,they cannot reach higher planes through ignorance and compulsion4 ,they can attain them only through knowledge and the cultivation of a higher1 happier attitude toward sex4 ,sex life must be stripped of its fear4 ,this is one of the great functions of contraceptives4 ,that which is enshrouded in fear becomes morbid4 ,that which is morbid cannot be really beautiful4 ,a true understanding of every phase of the love life1 and such an understanding alone1 can reveal it in its purity--in its power of upliftment4 ,force and fear have failed from the beginning of time4 ,their fruits are wrecks and wretchedness4 ,knowledge and freedom to choose or reject the sexual embrace1 according as it is lovely or unlovely1 and these alone1 can solve the problem4 ,these alone make possible between man and woman that indissoluble tie and mutual passion1 and common understanding1 in which lies the hope of a higher race4 ,,chapter ,x ,,contraceptives ,,or ,,abortion8 ,society has not yet learned the significance of the age-long effort of the feminine spirit to free itself of the burden of excessive childbearing4 ,it has been singularly blind to the real forces underlying the cause of infanticide1 child abandonment and abortion4 ,it has permitted the highest and most powerful thing in woman's nature to be hindered1 diverted1 repressed and confused4 ,society has permitted this inner urge of woman to be rendered violent by repression until it has expressed itself in cruel forms of family limitation1 which this same society has promptly labeled crimes and sought to punish4 ,it has gone on blindly forcing women into these crimes1 deaf alike to their entreaties and to the lessons of history4 ,as we have seen in the second chapter of this book1 child abandonment and infanticide are by no means obsolete practices4 ,as for abortion1 it has not decreased but increased with the advance of civilization4 ,the reader will recall that one authority says that there are #a1jjj1jjj abortions in the ,united ,states every year1 while another estimates double that number4 ,most of the women of the middle and upper classes in ,america seem secure in their knowledge of contraceptives as a means of birth control4 ,under present conditions1 when the laws in most states regard this knowledge1 howsoever it be imparted1 as illicit1 and the federal statutes prohibit the sending of it through the mails1 even the women in more fortunate circumstances sometimes have difficulty in getting scientific information4 ,nevertheless1 so strong is their purpose that they do obtain it and use it1 correctly or incorrectly4 ,the great majority of women1 however1 belong to the working class4 ,nearly all of these women will fall into one of two general groups--the ones who are having children against their wills1 and those who1 to escape this evil1 find refuge in abortion4 ,being given their choice by society--to continue to be overburdened mothers or to submit to a humiliating1 repulsive1 painful and too often gravely dangerous operation1 those women in whom the feminine urge to freedom is strongest choose the abortionist4 ,one group goes on bringing children to birth1 hoping that they will be born dead or die4 ,the women of the other group strive consciously by drastic means to protect themselves and the children already born4 ,our examinations1 says ,dr4 ,max ,hirsch1 an authority on the subject1 have informed us that the largest number of abortions 7in the ,united ,states7 are performed on married women4 ,this fact brings us to the conclusion that contraceptive measures among the upper classes and the practice of abortion among the lower class1 are the real means employed to regulate the number of offspring4 ,thus a high percentage of women in comfortable circumstances escape overbreeding by the use of contraceptives4 ,a similarly high percentage of women not in comfortable circumstances are forced to submit to forced maternity1 because their only alternative at present is abortion4 ,when accidental conception takes place1 some women of both classes resort to abortion if they can obtain the services of an abortionist4 ,when society holds up its hands in horror at the crime of abortion1 it forgets at whose door the first and principal responsibility for this practice rests4 ,does anyone imagine that a woman would submit to abortion if not denied the knowledge of scientific1 effective contraceptives8 ,does anyone believe that physicians and midwives who perform abortions go from door to door soliciting patronage8 ,the abortionist could not continue his practice for twenty-four hours if it were not for the fact that women come desperately begging for such operations4 ,he could not stay out of jail a day if women did not so generally approve of his services as to hold his identity an open but seldom-betrayed secret4 ,the question1 then1 is not whether family limitation should be practiced4 ,it is being practiced2 it has been practiced for ages and it will always be practiced4 ,the question that society must answer is this3 ,shall family limitation be achieved through birth control or abortion8 ,shall normal1 safe1 effective contraceptives be employed1 or shall we continue to force women to the abnormal1 often dangerous surgical operation8 ,this question1 too1 the church1 the state and the moralist must answer4 ,the knowledge of contraceptive methods may yet for a time be denied to the woman of the working class1 but those who are responsible for denying it to her1 and she herself1 should understand clearly the dangers to which she is exposed because of the laws which force her into the hands of the abortionist4 ,to understand the more clearly the difference between birth control by contraceptives and family limitation through abortion it is necessary to know something of the processes of conception4 ,knowledge of these processes will also enable us to comprehend more thoroughly the dangers to which woman is exposed by our antiquated laws1 and how much better it would be for her to employ such preventive measures as would keep her out of the hands of the abortionist1 into which the laws now drive her4 ,in every woman's ovaries are imbedded millions of ovules or eggs4 ,they are in every female at birth1 and as the girl develops into womanhood1 these ovules develop also4 ,at a certain age1 varying slightly with the individual1 the ripest ovule leaves the nest or ovary and comes down one of the tubes connecting with the womb and passes out of the body4 ,when this takes place1 it is said that the girl is at the age of puberty4 ,when it reaches the womb the ovule is ready for the process of conception--that is1 fertilization by the male sperm4 ,at the time the ovule is ripening1 the womb is preparing to receive it4 ,this preparation consists of a reinforced blood supply brought to its lining4 ,if fertilization takes place1 the fertilized ovule or ovum will cling to the lining of the womb and there gather its nourishment4 ,if fertilization does not take place1 the ovum passes out of the body and the uterus throws off its surplus blood supply4 ,this is called the menstrual period4 ,it occurs about once a month or every twenty-eight days4 ,in the male organs there are glands called testes4 ,they secrete a fluid called the semen4 ,in the semen is the life-giving principle called the sperm4 ,when intercourse takes place1 if no preventive is employed1 the semen is deposited in the woman's vagina4 ,the ovule is not in the vagina1 but is in the womb1 farther up1 or perhaps in the tube on its way to the womb4 ,as steel is attracted to the magnet1 the sperm of the male starts on its way to seek the ovum4 ,several of these sperm cells start1 but only one enters the ovum and is absorbed into it4 ,this process is called fertilization1 conception or impregnation4 ,if no children are desired1 the meeting of the male sperm and the ovum must be prevented4 ,when scientific means are employed to prevent this meeting1 one is said to practice birth control4 ,the means used is known as a contraceptive4 ,if1 however1 a contraceptive is not used and the sperm meets the ovule and development begins1 any attempt at removing it or stopping its further growth is called abortion4 ,there is no doubt that women are apt to look upon abortion as of little consequence and to treat it accordingly4 ,an abortion is as important a matter as a confinement and requires as much attention as the birth of a child at its full term4 ,the immediate dangers of abortion1 says ,dr4 ,j4 ,clifton ,edgar1 in his book1 ,the ,practice of ,obstetrics1 are hemorrhage1 retention of an adherent placenta1 sepsis1 tetanus1 perforation of the uterus4 ,they also cause sterility1 anemia1 malignant diseases1 displacements1 neurosis1 and endometritis4 ,in plain1 everyday language1 in an abortion there is always a very serious risk to the health and often to the life of the patient4 ,it is only the women of wealth who can afford the best medical skill1 care and treatment both at the time of the operation and afterwards4 ,in this way they escape the usual serious consequences4 ,the women whose incomes are limited and who must continue at work before they have recovered from the effects of an abortion are the great army of sufferers4 ,it is among such that the deaths due to abortion usually ensue4 ,it is these1 too1 who are most often forced to resort to such operations4 ,if death does not result1 the woman who has undergone an abortion is not altogether safe from harm4 ,the womb may not return to its natural size1 but remain large and heavy1 tending to fall away from its natural position4 ,abortion often leaves the uterus in a condition to conceive easily again and unless prevention is strictly followed another pregnancy will surely occur4 ,frequent abortions tend to cause barrenness and serious1 painful pelvic ailments4 ,these and other conditions arising from such operations are very likely to ruin a woman's general health4 ,while there are cases where even the law recognizes an abortion as justifiable if recommended by a physician1 ,i assert that the hundreds of thousands of abortions performed in ,america each year are a disgrace to civilization4 ,the effects of such operations upon a woman1 serious as they may be1 are nothing as compared to the injury done her general health by drugs taken to produce the same result4 ,even such drugs as are prescribed by physicians have harmful effects1 and nostrums recommended by druggists are often worse still4 ,even more drastic may be the effect upon the unborn child1 for many women fill their systems with poisonous drugs during the first weeks of their pregnancy1 only to decide at last1 when drugs have failed1 as they usually do1 to bring the child to birth4 ,there are no statistics1 of course1 by which we may compute the amount of suffering to mother and child from the use of such drugs1 but we know that the total of physical weakness and disease must be astounding4 ,we know that the woman's own system feels the strain of these drugs and that the embryo is usually poisoned by them4 ,the child is likely to be rickety1 have heart trouble1 kidney disorder1 or to be generally weak in its powers of resistance4 ,if it does not die before it reaches its first year1 it is probable that it will have to struggle against some of these weaknesses until its adolescent period4 ,it needs no assertion of mine to call attention to the grim fact that the laws prohibiting the imparting of information concerning the preventing of conception are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year in this country and an untold amount of sickness and sorrow4 ,the suffering and the death of these women is squarely upon the heads of the lawmakers and the puritanical1 masculine-minded person who insist upon retaining the abominable legal restrictions4 ,try as they will they cannot escape the truth1 nor hide it under the cloak of stupid hypocrisy4 ,if the laws against imparting knowledge of scientific birth control were repealed1 nearly all of the #a1jjj1jjj or #b1jjj1jjj women who undergo abortions in the ,united ,states each year would escape the agony of the surgeon's instruments and the long trail of disease1 suffering and death which so often follows4 ,he who would combat abortion1 says ,dr4 ,hirsch1 and at the same time combat contraceptive measures may be likened to the person who would fight contagious diseases and forbid disinfection4 ,for contraceptive measures are important weapons in the fight against abortion4 ,america has a law since #ahgc which prohibits by criminal statute the distribution and regulation of contraceptive measures4 ,it follows1 therefore1 that ,america stands at the head of all nations in the huge number of abortions4 ,there is the case in a nutshell4 ,family limitation will always be practiced as it is now being practiced--either by birth control or by abortion4 ,we know that4 ,the one means health and happiness--a stronger1 better race4 ,the other means disease1 suffering1 death4 ,the woman who goes to the abortionist's table is not a criminal but a martyr--a martyr to the bitter1 unthinkable conditions brought about by the blindness of society at large4 ,these conditions give her the choice between the surgeon's instruments and the sacrificing of what is highest and holiest in her--her aspiration to freedom1 her desire to protect the children already hers4 ,these conditions--not the woman--outface society with this question3 ,contraceptives or ,abortion--which shall it be8 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,are ,,preventive ,,means ,,certain8 ,there are several means of preventing conception which are both certain and harmless4 ,what those means are the state laws forbid me to say4 ,if ,i should defy the state laws and name those contraceptives1 the federal laws would forbid this book's going through the mails4 ,nor can ,i1 without coming into conflict with the laws1 tell why these means are reliable4 ,it is difficult to discuss the subject without using franker language than the statutes permit1 and ,i do not wish to violate the law in this particular book4 ,can ,i rely upon this8 ,is it certain8 ,will it prevent absolutely8 ,such questions1 always asked by women who seek advice concerning contraceptives1 testify both to their fear of involuntary motherhood and their doubt as to any and all means offered for their deliverance4 ,doubt as to the certainty of contraceptives arises from two sources4 ,one is the uninformed element in the medical profession4 ,a physician who belongs to this element may object to birth control upon general grounds1 or he may repeat old-fashioned objections to cover his ignorance of contraceptives4 ,for1 strange as it may seem1 there is an amazing ignorance among physicians of this supremely important subject4 ,the uninformed objector often assumes to speak with the voice of authority1 asserting that there are no thoroughly dependable contraceptives that are not injurious to the user4 ,the other source of distrust is the experience of the woman herself4 ,having no place to go for scientific advice1 she gathers her information from neighbors and friends4 ,one offers this suggestion1 another offers that1 each urging the means that she has found successful and condemning others4 ,all this is very confusing and extremely disturbing to the woman who1 for one reason or another1 is living in constant fear of pregnancy4 ,it is not at all surprising that such a state of affairs exists4 ,there has been so much secrecy about the whole subject and so much dependence upon amateurish and nonprofessional advice that it is almost impossible for anyone to procure reliable information or to recognize it when given4 ,this is especially true in the ,united ,states where there are both federal and state laws to punish those who disseminate knowledge of birth-control methods4 ,even under present conditions1 however1 there is a certain amount of reliable information concerning methods of birth control4 ,we know that there are several methods of prevention which are not only dependable1 but which can be used without injury either to the man or the woman4 ,knowledge of what these methods are and how to apply them should be available to every married man and woman4 ,it is safe to predict that in a very few years they will be available4 ,some methods are more dependable than others1 just as there are some more simple of adjustment than others4 ,some are cheap and less durable2 others are expensive and last for years4 ,there are some which for a quarter of a century have stood the test of certainty in ,holland1 ,france1 ,england and the ,united ,states among the wealthier classes1 as the falling birth rate among these classes indicates4 ,and just as the reliable1 primitive wheelbarrow is antiquated beside the latest airplane1 so1 as scientific investigators turn their attention more and more to this field1 will the awkward1 troublesome methods of the past give way to the simpler1 more convenient methods of the morrow4 ,although the law forbids information concerning reliable means of contraception1 it is hardly likely that it can be invoked to prevent warnings against widely practiced methods which are ,,not reliable4 ,the employment of such methods leads not only to disappointment but often to ill health4 ,one of the most common practices of this kind is that of nursing one baby too long in the hope of preventing the birth of the next4 ,the poor whites of the ,south and many of the foreign-born women of the ,united ,states pin their hopes to this method4 ,often they persist in nursing a child until it is eighteen months old--almost always until they become pregnant again4 ,prolonged nursing hurts both child and mother1 it is said4 ,in the child it causes a tendency to brain disease1 probably through disordered digestion and nutrition4 ,in the mother it causes a strong tendency to deafness and blindness4 ,if a child is nursed after it is twelve months old1 it is generally pale1 flabby and unhealthy1 often rickety1 one authority points out1 while the mother is usually nervous1 emaciated and hysterical4 ,if pregnancy occurs under these conditions1 the mother not only injures her own health but that of the next child1 often developing in it a weakness of constitution which it never overcomes4 ,moreover1 prolonged nursing has been found to be unreliable as a contraceptive4 ,we know this upon good authority4 ,it should not be depended upon at all4 ,in the same class is the so-called safe period referred to in another chapter4 ,for many women there is never any safe period4 ,others have safe periods for a number of years1 only to find themselves pregnant because these periods have ceased without warning4 ,one of the most frequent of all the mistakes made in recommending contraceptives is the advice to use an antiseptic or cold-water douche4 ,this error seems to be surprisingly persistent4 ,i am particularly surprised to hear from women that such douches have been prescribed by physicians4 ,any physician who knows the first rudiments of physiology and anatomy must also know that necessary and important as an antiseptic douche is as a cleanser and hygienic measure1 it is assuredly not to be advised as a means of preventing conception4 ,a woman may1 and often does1 become pregnant before she can make use of a douche4 ,this is particularly likely to happen if her uterus is low4 ,and the woman who does much walking1 who stands for long hours or who uses the sewing machine a great deal is likely to have a low uterus4 ,it is then much easier for the spermatazoa to enter almost directly into the womb than it would otherwise be1 and the douche1 no matter how soon it is used1 is likely to be ineffective4 ,the tendency of the uterus to drop under strain goes far to explain why some women who have depended upon the douche for years suddenly find themselves pregnant4 ,do not depend upon the douche4 ,as a cleansing agent1 it is a necessary part of every woman's toilet1 but it is not a preventive4 ,even if the douche were dependable1 the absence of sanitary convenience from households in remote districts and the difficulty of using a douche in crowded tenements would prevent many women from making use of it4 ,despite the unreliability of some methods and the harmfulness of some others1 there are methods which are both harmless and certain4 ,this much the woman who is seeking means of limiting her family may be told here4 ,in using any method1 whatsoever1 all depends upon the care taken to use it properly4 ,no surgeon1 no matter how perfect his instruments1 would expect perfect results from the simplest operation did he not exercise the greatest possible care4 ,common sense1 good judgment and taking pains are necessary in the use of all contraceptives4 ,more and more perfect means of preventing conception will be developed as women insist upon them4 ,every woman should make it plain to her physician that she expects him to be informed upon this subject4 ,she should refuse to accept evasive answers4 ,an increasing demand upon physicians will inevitably result in laboratory researches and experimentation4 ,such investigation is indeed already beginning and we may expect great progress in contraceptive methods in the near future4 ,we may also expect more authoritative opinions upon preventive methods and devices4 ,when women confidently and insistently demand them1 they will have access to contraceptives which are both certain and harmless4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,will ,,birth ,,control ,,help ,,the ,,cause ,,of ,,labor8 ,labor seems instinctively to have recognized the fact that its servitude springs from numbers4 ,seldom1 however1 has it applied its knowledge logically and thoroughly4 ,the basic principle of craft unionism is limitation of the number of workers in a given trade4 ,this has been labor's most frequent expedient for righting its wrongs4 ,every unionist knows1 as a matter of course1 that if that number is kept small enough1 his organization can compel increases of wages1 steady employment and decent working conditions4 ,craft unionism has succeeded in attaining these insofar as it has been able to apply this principle4 ,it has failed insofar as it has been unable to apply it4 ,the weakness of craft unionism is that it does not carry its principle far enough4 ,it applies its policy of limitation of numbers only to the trade4 ,in his home1 the worker1 whether he is a unionist or non-unionist1 goes on producing large numbers of children to compete with him eventually in the labor market4 ,the history of labor1 says ,teresa ,billington-,greig in the ,common ,sense of ,the ,population ,question1 is the history of an ever unsuccessful effort upon the part of man to bring his productive ability as a worker up to his reproductive ability4 ,it has been a losing battle all the way4 ,the small percentage of highly skilled1 organized workers lead in the struggle for better conditions4 ,craft unions1 by limiting the number of men available for any one trade1 manage to procure better pay1 shorter hours and other advantages for their members4 ,disaster1 in the form of famine1 pestilence1 tidal waves1 earthquakes or war1 sometimes limits the number of available workers4 ,then those who live in parts of the world that are not affected1 or who stay at home during wars1 reap a temporary advantage4 ,these advantages1 however1 are quickly offset by increased prices1 or by competition for jobs when soldiers return from war4 ,this form of limitation of numbers works to the advantage of labor as long as it is available1 but great disasters are not constantly in operation while the worker's reproductive ability is4 ,so in a few years they have lost what nature's destructiveness won for them4 ,the great mass of the workers--including children and women--are unskilled and unorganized4 ,not only that1 they are for some considerable part of the time seeking employment4 ,they are1 of course1 poorly paid4 ,thus1 through their low wages and their seeking of employment1 they always come into direct competition with one another and with the skilled and organized workmen4 ,as their families live in want and are often diseased1 they create the chief social problems of the day4 ,they bring children into the world as fast as women can bear them4 ,with each child they increase their own misery and provide another worker to force down wages and prolong hours1 through competition for employment4 ,this has been the way of labor from the beginning4 ,it is labor's way in every country4 ,having discovered that there is no relief in legislation1 labor organizes to limit its numbers in certain trades4 ,meanwhile the women of the working class go on breeding more workers to wipe out in the future the advantages gained for the present4 ,in ,paris1 for instance1 the proletarian quarters of the city show a birth rate more than three times as high as the birth rate in the well-to-do sections4 ,dr4 ,jacques ,bartillon furnishes us with statistics which prove that the birth rate in any quarter of ,paris is in inverse ratio to its degree of affluence1 says ,g4 ,hardy in ,how to ,prevent ,pregnancy4 ,the rich ,champs-,elysees has a birth rate a third of that ,bellerville or of the ,buttes-,chaumont4 ,from #a1jjj women from the age of fifteen to fifty1 ,menimontant gives #aaf births2 the ,champs-,elysees thirty-four births4 ,it is the same in ,berlin4 ,for #a1jjj women from the age of fifteen to that of fifty1 a very poor quarter gives #aeg births2 a rich quarter gives #dg births4 ,and so it is the world over4 ,the very word proletarian1 as ,hardy points out1 means producer of children4 ,the children thus carelessly produced undermine the health of the mother1 deepen the family's poverty1 destroy the happiness of the home1 and dishearten the father2 all this in addition to being future competitors in the labor market4 ,too often their increasing number drives the mother herself into industry1 where her beggarly wages tend to lower the level of those of her husband4 ,the first sickening feature of this general situation is the high infant mortality among the children of the workers4 ,many children come merely to sap the strength of the mother1 suffer and die1 leaving to show for their coming and going only an increased burden of sorrow and debt4 ,the lower the family income1 the more of these babies die before they are a year old4 ,a survey of infant mortality in ,johnstown1 ,pa41 by the federal ,children's ,bureau1 gave these typical results for the year #aiaa3 ,infant ,mortality ,father's ,earnings ,rate ,under #eba444444444444444444 #aig4c #eba to #fbd4444444444444444 #aic4a #fbe to #ggi4444444444444444 #afc4a #ghj to #hii4444444444444444 #afh4d #ijj to #a1aii44444444444444 #adb4c #a1bjj or over44444444444444 #ajb4 ,ample444444444444444444444444 #hh4 ,these figures do not represent the total income of all families4 ,neither will money buy as much in #aibj as it did in #aiaa4 ,seventy per cent of the people of the ,united ,states have incomes of less than #a1jjj4 ,this means that from #adb to #aig children born into such families die before they are one year old4 ,the births and deaths of these children represent just so much useless burden of anguish and sorrow to the workers4 ,despite this high infant death rate1 the workers of the ,united ,states still have more children than they can care for4 ,there are enough of them left over to provide #c1jjj1jjj child laborers1 who by working for a pittance crowd their parents out of employment and force the families deeper into poverty4 ,when all is said and done1 the workers who produce large families have themselves to blame for the hundreds of thousands of unemployed grasping for jobs1 for the strike breakers1 for the policemen who beat up and arrest strikers and for the soldiers who shoot strikers down4 ,all these come from the families of workingmen4 ,their fathers and mothers are workers for wages4 ,out of the loins of labor they come into the world and compel surplus labor to betray labor that is employed4 ,nor is this all4 ,when a workman of superior strength and skill1 protected by his union1 manages to maintain a large or moderate sized family in a degree of comfort1 there always comes a time when he must strike to preserve what he has won4 ,if he is not beaten by unorganized workers who seek his job1 he still has to face the possibility of listening to the cries of several hungry children4 ,if the strike is a long one1 these cries often down the promptings of loyalty and class interest--often they defeat him when nothing else could4 ,is it any wonder that under handicaps like these labor becomes confused and flounders8 ,it has been offered a multitude of remedies--political reforms1 wage legislation1 statutory regulation of hours1 and so on4 ,it has been invited to embrace craft and industrial unionism1 syndicalism1 anarchism1 socialism as panaceas for its liberation4 ,except in a few countries1 it has not attained to aggressive power1 but has been a tool for unscrupulous politicians4 ,even with the temporary advantages gained by the wiping out of millions of workers in the ,great ,war1 labor's problem remains unsolved4 ,it has now1 as always1 to contend with the crop of young laborers coming into the market1 and with the ever-present labor-saving machine which1 instead of relieving the worker's situation1 makes it all the harder for him to escape4 ,fewer laborers are needed to-day for a given amount of production and distribution than before the invention of these machines4 ,yet1 owing to the increase in the number of the workers1 labor finds itself enslaved instead of liberated by the machine4 ,hitherto1 says ,john ,stuart ,mill1 it is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day's toil of any human being4 ,they have enabled a greater population to live the same life of drudgery and imprisonment1 and an increased number of manufacturers and others to make fortunes4 ,that1 in a few words1 sums up the greater part of labor's progress4 ,we blame capitalism and its wasteful1 brutal industrial system for all our social problems1 but our numbers were vast and our bondage grievous before modern industry came into existence4 ,we may curse the trusts1 but our subjection was accomplished before the trusts had emerged from the brain of evolution4 ,we may blame public officials and individual employers1 but our burdens were crushing before these were born4 ,we look now here1 now there1 for the cause of our condition--everywhere but at the one to blame4 ,we fight again and again for our rights1 only to be conquered by our own kind1 our own children1 our brother's1 our neighbor's4 ,let us carry to its logical conclusion the principle of limitation which has been partially applied by labor unions4 ,the way to get rid of labor problems1 unemployment1 low wages1 the surplus1 unwanted population1 is to stop breeding4 ,they come from our own ranks--from our own families4 ,the way to get better wages1 shorter hours1 a new system for the advancement of labor1 is to make labor's numbers fewer4 ,let us not wait for war1 famine and plague to do it4 ,let us cease bringing unwanted children into the world to suffer a while1 add to our burdens and die4 ,let us cease bringing others into the world to compete with us for a living4 ,let the women workers practice birth control4 ,what are the concrete things which the worker can gain at once through birth control8 ,first1 a small family can live much better than a large one upon the wages now received4 ,workers could be better fed1 clothed and educated4 ,again1 fewer children in the families of the workers would tend to check the rise in the prices of food1 which are forced up as the demand increases4 ,within a few years it would reduce the number of workers competing for jobs4 ,the worker could the more easily force society to give him more of the product of his labor--or all of it4 ,and while these things are taking place1 the slums1 with their disease1 their moral degradation and all their sordid accompaniments1 would automatically disappear4 ,no worker would need to live in such tenements--hence they would be modernized or torn down4 ,at the same time1 the few children that were being born to the workers would be stronger1 healthier1 more courageous4 ,they would be fit human beings--not miserable victims of murderous conditions4 ,birth control does not propose to replace any of the idealistic movements and philosophies of the workers4 ,it is not a substitute1 it precedes4 ,it is of itself a principle that lifts the heaviest of the burdens that afflict labor4 ,it can and it must be the foundation upon which any permanently successful improvement in conditions is attained4 ,it is1 therefore1 a necessary prelude in all effective propaganda4 ,a few years of systematic agitation for birth control would put labor in a position to solve all its problems4 ,labor1 organized or unorganized1 must take heed of this fact4 ,groups and parties working for a new social order must include it in their programmes4 ,no social system1 no workers' democracy1 no ,socialist republic can operate successfully and maintain its ideals unless the practice of birth control is encouraged to a marked and efficient degree4 ,in ,spain ,i saw a bull fight4 ,it was in the great arena at ,barcelona4 ,as bull after bull went down1 his magnificent1 defeated strength bleeding away through wounds inflicted by his weak but skillful assailant1 ,i thought of the world of workers and their oppressors4 ,as each bull was sent into the arena1 he was confronted by one assailant and twenty confusers4 ,there was but one enemy for him to face1 but there were twenty brilliant flags1 each of a different color1 to distract his attention from the man who held the weapon4 ,no sooner was his real antagonist in danger1 than one of the confusers fluttered a flag before his anger-maddened eyes4 ,with one toss of his horns he could have ripped the life from the toreador1 but his confusers were always there with the flags4 ,one after another he charged them1 only to spend the force of his lunges in the empty air4 ,he found that as he was about to toss one of his confusers into the air1 he was confronted by another flag1 which he charged with equal futility4 ,finally1 utterly bewildered and exhausted1 too spiritless to meet the attack1 he falls under the sword thrust of the toreador4 ,and the sun shines in the deep blue overhead1 the band plays1 the ten thousand gayly-clad spectators shout1 while the victim is dragged out to make room for another4 ,it is the drama of labor4 ,it will be the drama of labor until labor finds its real enemy4 ,that enemy is the reproductive ability of the working class which gluts the channels of progress with the helpless and weak1 and stimulates the tyrants of the world in their oppression of mankind4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,battalions ,,of ,,unwanted ,,babies ,,the ,,cause ,,of ,,war ,in every nation of militaristic tendencies we find the reactionaries demanding a higher and still higher birth rate4 ,their plea is1 first1 that great armies are needed to defend the country from its possible enemies2 second1 that a huge population is required to assure the country its proper place among the powers of the world4 ,at bottom the two pleas are the same4 ,as soon as the country becomes overpopulated1 these reactionaries proclaim loudly its moral right to expand4 ,they point to the huge population1 which in the name of patriotism they have previously demanded should be brought into being4 ,again pleading patriotism1 they declare that it is the moral right of the nation to take by force such room as it needs4 ,then comes war--usually against some nation supposed to be less well prepared than the aggressor4 ,diplomats make it their business to conceal the facts1 and politicians violently denounce the politicians of other countries4 ,there is a long beating of tom-toms by the press and all other agencies for influencing public opinion4 ,facts are distorted and lies invented until the common people cannot get at the truth4 ,yet1 when the war is over1 if not before1 we always find that a place in the sun1 a path to the sea1 a route to ,india or something of the sort is at the bottom of the trouble4 ,these are merely other names for expansion4 ,the need of expansion is only another name for overpopulation4 ,one supreme example is sufficient to drive home this truth4 ,that the ,great ,war1 from the horror of which we are just beginning to emerge1 had its source in overpopulation is too evident to be denied by any serious student of current history4 ,for the past one hundred years most of the nations of ,europe have been piling up terrific debts to humanity by the encouragement of unlimited numbers4 ,the rulers of these nations and their militarists have constantly called upon the people to breed1 breed1 breed6 ,large populations meant more people to produce wealth1 more people to pay taxes1 more trade for the merchants1 more soldiers to protect the wealth4 ,but more people also meant need of greater food supplies1 an urgent and natural need for expansion4 ,as shown by ,c4,v4 ,drysdale's famous ,war ,map of ,europe1 the great conflict began among the high birth rate countries--,germany1 with its rate of #ca4g1 ,austria-,hungary with #cc4g and #cf4g1 respectively1 ,russia with #de4d1 ,serbia with #ch4f4 ,italy with her #ch4g came in1 as the world is now well informed through the publication of secret treaties by the ,soviet government of ,russia1 upon the promise of territory held by ,austria4 ,england1 owing to her small home area1 is cramped with her comparatively low birth rate of #bf4c4 ,france1 among the belligerents1 is conspicuous for her low birth rate of #ai4i1 but stood in the way of expansion of high birth rate ,germany4 ,nearly all of the persistently neutral countries--,holland1 ,denmark1 ,norway1 ,sweden and ,switzerland have low birth rates1 the average being a little over #bf4 ,owing to the part ,germany played in the war1 a survey of her birth statistics is decidedly illuminating4 ,the increase in the ,german birth rate up to #ahgf was great4 ,though it began to decline then1 the decline was not sufficient to offset the tremendous increase of the previous years4 ,there were more millions to produce children1 so while the average number of births per thousand was somewhat smaller1 the net increase in population was still huge4 ,from #da1jjj1jjj in #ahga1 the year the ,empire was founded1 the ,german population grew to approximately #fg1jjj1jjj in #aiah4 ,meanwhile her food supply increased only a very small per cent4 ,in #aiaj1 ,russia had a birth rate even higher than ,germany's had ever been--a little less than #dh per thousand4 ,when czarist ,russia wanted an outlet to the ,mediterranean by way of ,constantinople1 she was thinking of her increasing population4 ,germany was thinking of her increasing population when she spoke as with one voice of a place in the sun4 ,for some decades1 said the ,royal ,prussian ,journal1 in an article quoted by the ,malthusian 7,london7 of ,april #ae1 #aiaa1 the great growth of ,german population has been almost entirely forced into the towns1 since of the four millions of increase in five years1 only a few can find places in agriculture1 as most properties are too small to permit of letting off a portion4 ,and as regards the larger farms1 the tendency of modern1 cheaper machine methods is rather to produce a saving of the more costly manual labor4 ,for some time past ,germany has no longer been in the position of feeding her own population1 and large quantities of food as raw-materials have to be imported1 for which exports have to be exchanged4 ,it is doubtful whether even this can for long keep pace with the present rate of increase of population4 ,there were other utterances which just as frankly acknowledged that1 having produced surplus population1 ,germany proposed to procure by means of war the expansion necessary to care for it4 ,adelyne ,more1 in ,uncontrolled ,breeding1 a study of the birth rate in its relation to war1 quoted the ,berliner ,post3 ,can a great and rapidly growing nation like ,germany always renounce all claims to further development or to the expansion of its political power8 ,the final settlement with ,france and ,england1 the expansion of our colonial possessions1 in order to create new ,german homes for the overflow of our population--these are problems which must be faced in the near future4 ,this was published in #aiac4 ,just as frank was the recognition of the true cause of international conflicts by a number of ,british authorities4 ,in ,uncontrolled ,breeding1 the author quotes the ,british ,national ,commission's report on ,the ,declining ,birth ,rate3 ,the pressure of population in any country brings1 as a chief historic consequence1 overflows and migrations not only for peaceful settlement1 but for conquest and for the subjugation and exploitation of weaker peoples4 ,this always remains a chief cause of international disputes4 ,the militaristic claim for ,germany's right to new territory was simply a claim to the right of life and food for the ,german babies--the same right that a chick claims to burst its shell4 ,if there had not been other millions of people claiming the same right1 there would have been no war4 ,but there were other millions4 ,the ,german rulers and leaders pointed out the fact that expansion meant more business for ,german merchants1 more work for ,german workmen at better wages1 and more opportunities for ,germans abroad4 ,they also pointed out that lack of expansion meant crowding and crushing at home1 hard times1 heavy burdens1 lack of opportunity for ,germans1 and what not4 ,in this way1 they gave the people of the ,empire a startling and true picture of what would happen from overcrowding4 ,once they realized the facts1 the majority of ,germans naturally welcomed the so-called war of defense4 ,the argument was sound4 ,once the ,german mothers had submitted to the plea for overbreeding1 it was inevitable that imperialistic ,germany should make war4 ,once the battalions of unwanted babies came into existence--babies whom the mothers did not want but which they bore as a patriotic duty--it was too late to avoid international conflict4 ,the great crime of imperialistic ,germany was its high birth rate4 ,it has always been so4 ,behind all war has been the pressure of population4 ,historians1 says ,huxley1 point to the greed and ambition of rulers1 the reckless turbulence of the ruled1 to the debasing effects of wealth and luxury1 and to the devastating wars which have formed a great part of the occupation of mankind1 as the causes of the decay of states and the foundering of old civilizations1 and thereby point their story with a moral4 ,but beneath all this superficial turmoil lay the deep-seated impulse given by unlimited multiplication4 ,robert ,thomas ,malthus1 formulator of the doctrine which bears his name1 pointed out1 in the closing years of the eighteenth century1 the relation of overpopulation to war4 ,he showed that mankind tends to increase faster than the food supply4 ,he demonstrated that were it not for the more common diseases1 for plague1 famine1 floods and wars1 human beings would crowd each other to such an extent that the misery would be even greater than it now is4 ,these he described as natural checks1 pointing out that as long as no other checks are employed1 such disasters are unavoidable4 ,if we do not exercise sufficient judgment to regulate the birth rate1 we encounter disease1 starvation and war4 ,both ,darwin and ,john ,stuart ,mill recognized1 by inference at least1 the fact that so-called natural checks--and among them war--will operate if some sort of limitation is not employed4 ,in his ,origin of ,species1 ,darwin says3 ,there is no exception to the rule that every organic being naturally increases at so high a rate1 if not destroyed1 that the earth would soon be covered by the progeny of a single pair4 ,elsewhere he observes that we do not permit helpless human beings to die off1 but we create philanthropies and charities1 build asylums and hospitals and keep the medical profession busy preserving those who could not otherwise survive4 ,john ,stuart ,mill1 supporting the views of ,malthus1 speaks to exactly the same effect in regard to the multiplying power of organic beings1 among them humanity4 ,in other words1 let countries become overpopulated and war is inevitable4 ,it follows as daylight follows the sunrise4 ,when ,charles ,bradlaugh and ,mrs4 ,annie ,besant were on trial in ,england in #ahgg for publishing information concerning contraceptives1 ,mrs4 ,besant put the case bluntly to the court and the jury3 ,i have no doubt that if natural checks were allowed to operate right through the human as they do in the animal world1 a better result would follow4 ,among the brutes1 the weaker are driven to the wall1 the diseased fall out in the race of life4 ,the old brutes1 when feeble or sickly1 are killed4 ,if men insisted that those who were sickly should be allowed to die without help of medicine or science1 if those who are weak were put upon one side and crushed1 if those who were old and useless were killed1 if those who were not capable of providing food for themselves were allowed to starve1 if all this were done1 the struggle for existence among men would be as real as it is among brutes and would doubtless result in the production of a higher race of men4 ,but are you willing to do that or to allow it to be done8 ,we are not willing to let it be done4 ,mother hearts cling to children1 no matter how diseased1 misshapen and miserable4 ,sons and daughters hold fast to parents1 no matter how helpless4 ,we do not allow the weak to depart2 neither do we cease to bring more weak and helpless beings into the world4 ,among the dire results is war1 which kills off1 not the weak and the helpless1 but the strong and the fit4 ,what shall be done8 ,we have our choice of one of three policies4 ,we may abandon our science and leave the weak and diseased to die1 or kill them1 as the brutes do4 ,or we may go on overpopulating the earth and have our famines and our wars while the earth exists4 ,or we can accept the third1 sane1 sensible1 moral and practicable plan of birth control4 ,we can refuse to bring weak1 the helpless and the unwanted children into the world4 ,we can refuse to overcrowd families1 nations and the earth4 ,there are these ways to meet the situation1 and only these three ways4 ,the world will never abandon its preventive and curative science2 it may be expected to elevate and extend it beyond our present imagination4 ,the efforts to do away with famine and the opposition to war are growing by leaps and bounds4 ,upon these efforts are largely based our modern social revolutions4 ,there remains only the third expedient--birth control1 the real cure for war4 ,this fact was called to the attention of the ,peace ,conference in ,paris1 in #aiai1 by the ,malthusian ,league1 which adopted the following resolution at its annual general meeting in ,london in ,june of that year3 ,the ,malthusian ,league desires to point out that the proposed scheme for the ,league of ,nations has neglected to take account of the important questions of the pressure of population1 which causes the great international economic competition and rivalry1 and of the increase of population1 which is put forward as a justification for claiming increase of territory4 ,it1 therefore1 wishes to put on record its belief that the ,league of ,nations will only be able to fulfill its aim when it adds a clause to the following effect3 ',that each ,nation desiring to enter into the ,league of ,nations shall pledge itself so to restrict its birth rate that its people shall be able to live in comfort in their own dominions without need for territorial expansion1 and that it shall recognize that increase of population shall not justify a demand either for increase of territory or for the compulsion of other ,nations to admit its emigrants2 so that when all ,nations in the ,league have shown their ability to live on their own resources without international rivalry1 they will be in a position to fuse into an international federation1 and territorial boundaries will then have little significance4' ,as a matter of course1 the ,peace ,conference paid no attention to the resolution1 for1 as pointed out by ,frank ,a4 ,vanderlip1 the ,american financier1 that conference not only ignored the economic factors of the world situation1 but seemed unaware that ,europe had produced more people than its fields could feed4 ,so the resolution amounted to so much propaganda and nothing more4 ,this remedy can be applied only by woman and she will apply it4 ,she must and will see past the call of pretended patriotism and of glory of empire and perceive what is true and what is false in these things4 ,she will discover what base uses the militarist and the exploiter make of the idealism of peoples4 ,under the clamor of the press1 permeating the ravings of the jingoes1 she will hear the voice of ,napoleon1 the archtype of the militarists of all nations1 calling for fodder for cannon4 ,woman is given to us that she may bear children1 said he4 ,woman is our property1 we are not hers1 because she produces children for us--we do not yield any to her4 ,she is1 therefore1 our possession as the fruit tree is that of the gardener4 ,that is what the imperialist is thinking when he speaks of the glory of the empire and the prestige of the nation4 ,every country has its appeal--its shibboleth--ready for the lips of the imperialist4 ,german rulers pointed to the comfort of the workers1 to old-age pensions1 maternal benefits and minimum wage regulations1 and other material benefits1 when they wished to inspire soldiers for the ,fatherland4 ,england's strongest argument1 perhaps1 was a certain phase of liberty which she guarantees her subjects1 and the protection afforded them wherever they may go4 ,france and the ,united ,states1 too1 have their appeals to the idealism of democracy--appeals which the politicians of both countries know well how to use1 though the peoples of both lands are beginning to awake to the fact that their countries have been living on the glories of their revolutions and traditions1 rather than the substance of freedom4 ,behind the boast of old-age pensions1 material benefits and wage regulations1 behind the bombast concerning liberty in this country and tyranny in that1 behind all the slogans and shibboleths coined out of the ideals of the peoples for the uses of imperialism1 woman must and will see the iron hand of that same imperialism1 condemning women to breed and men to die for the will of the rulers4 ,upon woman the burden and the horrors of war are heaviest4 ,her heart is the hardest wrung when the husband or the son comes home to be buried or to live a shattered wreck4 ,upon her devolve the extra tasks of filling out the ranks of workers in the war industries1 in addition to caring for the children and replenishing the war-diminished population4 ,hers is the crushing weight and the sickening of soul4 ,and it is out of her womb that those things proceed4 ,when she sees what lies behind the glory and the horror1 the boasting and the burden1 and gets the vision1 the human perspective1 she will end war4 ,she will kill war by the simple process of starving it to death4 ,for she will refuse longer to produce the human food upon which the monster feeds4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,woman ,,and ,,the ,,new ,,morality ,upon the shoulders of the woman conscious of her freedom rests the responsibility of creating a new sex morality4 ,the vital difference between a morality thus created by women and the so-called morality of to-day1 is that the new standard will be based upon knowledge and freedom while the old is founded upon ignorance and submission4 ,what part will birth control play in bringing forth this new standard8 ,what effect will its practice have upon woman's moral development8 ,will it lift her to heights that she has not yet achieved1 and if so1 how8 ,why is the question of morality always raised by the objector to birth control8 ,all these questions must be answered if we are to get a true picture of the relation of the feminine spirit to morals4 ,they can best be answered by considering1 first1 the source of our present standard of sex morals and the reasons why those standards are what they are2 and1 second1 the source and probable nature of the new morality4 ,we get most of our notions of sex morality from the ,christian church--more particularly from the oldest existing ,christian church1 known as the ,roman ,catholic4 ,the church has generally defined the immoral woman as one who mates out of wedlock4 ,virtually1 it lets it go at that4 ,in its practical workings1 there is nothing in the church code of morals to protect the woman1 either from unwilling submission to the wishes of her husband1 from undesired pregnancy1 nor from any other of the outrages only too familiar to many married women4 ,nothing is said about the crime of bringing an unwanted child into the world1 where often it cannot be adequately cared for and is1 therefore1 condemned to a life of misery4 ,the church's one point of insistence is upon the right of itself to legalize marriage and to compel the woman to submit to whatever such marriage may bring4 ,it is true that there are remedies of divorce in the case of the state1 but the church has adhered strictly to the principle that marriage1 once consummated1 is indissoluble4 ,thus1 in its operation1 the church's code of sex morals has nothing to do with the basic sex rights of the woman1 but enforces1 rather1 the assumed property rights of the man to the body and the services of his wife4 ,they are man-made codes2 their vital factor1 as they apply to woman1 is submission to the man4 ,closely associated with and underlying the principle of submission1 has been the doctrine that the sex life is in itself unclean4 ,it follows1 therefore1 that all knowledge of the sex physiology or sex functions is also unclean and taboo4 ,upon this teaching has been founded woman's subjection by the church and1 largely through the influence of the church1 her subjection by the state to the needs of the man4 ,let us see how these principles have affected the development of the present moral codes and some of their shifting standards4 ,when we have finished this analysis1 we shall know why objectors to birth control raise the morality question4 ,the church has sought to keep women ignorant upon the plea of keeping them pure4 ,to this end it has used the state as its moral policeman4 ,men have largely broken the grip of the ecclesiastics upon masculine education4 ,the ban upon geology and astronomy1 because they refute the biblical version of the creation of the world1 are no longer effective4 ,medicine1 biology and the doctrine of evolution have won their way to recognition in spite of the united opposition of the clerics4 ,so1 too1 has the right of woman to go unveiled1 to be educated1 and to speak from public platforms1 been asserted in spite of the condemnations of the church1 which denounced them as destructive of feminine purity4 ,only in sex matters has it succeeded in keeping the bugaboo alive4 ,it clings to this last stronghold of ignorance1 knowing that woman free from sexual domination would produce a race spiritually free and strong enough to break the last of the bonds of intellectual darkness4 ,it is within the marriage bonds1 rather than outside them1 that the greatest immorality of men has been perpetrated4 ,church and state1 through their canons and their laws1 have encouraged this immorality4 ,it is here that the woman who is to win her way to the new morality will meet the most difficult part of her task of moral house cleaning4 ,in the days when the church was striving for supremacy1 when it needed single-minded preachers1 proselyters and teachers1 it fastened upon its people the idea that all sexual union1 in marriage or out of it1 is sinful4 ,that idea colors the doctrines of the ,church of ,rome and many other ,christian denominations to this hour4 ,marriage1 even for the sake of children was a carnal indulgence in earlier times1 as ,principal ,donaldson points out in ,the ,position of ,women ,among the ,early ,christians4 ,footnote3 ,contemporary ,review1 #ahhi4 ,it was held that the child was conceived in sin1 and that as the result of the sex act1 an unclean spirit had possession of it4 ,this spirit can be removed only by baptism1 and the ,roman ,catholic baptismal service even yet contains these words3 ,go out of him1 thou unclean spirit1 and give place unto the ,holy ,spirit1 the ,paraclete4 ,in the ,intellectual ,development of ,europe1 ,john ,william ,draper1 speaking of the teaching of celibacy among the ,early ,fathers1 ,footnote3 #b-,vol4 #a1 page #dbf4 says3 ,the sinfulness of the marriage relation and the preeminent value of chastity followed from their principles4 ,if it was objected to such practices that by their universal adoption the human species would soon be extinguished and no man would remain to offer praises to ,god1 these zealots1 remembering the temptations from which they had escaped1 with truth replied that there would always be sinners enough in the world to avoid that disaster1 and that out of their evil work1 good would be brought4 ,saint ,jerome offers us the pregnant reflection that though it may be marriage that fills the earth1 it is virginity that replenishes heaven4 ,the early church taught that there were enough children on earth4 ,it needed missionaries more than it needed babies1 and impressed upon its followers the idea that the birth wails of the infant were a protest against being born into so sordid a world4 ,thus are we presented with one of the enormous inconsistencies of the church in sex matters4 ,the teachings of the ,early ,fathers were effect the advocacy of an attempt to enforce birth control through absolute continence1 while later it reverted1 as it reverts to-day1 to the ,mosaic injunction to be fruitful and multiply4 ,the very force of the sex urge in humanity compelled the church to abandon the teaching of celibacy for its general membership4 ,paul1 who preferred to see ,christians unmarried rather than married1 had recognized the power of this force4 ,in the seventh chapter of the ,first ,epistle to the ,corinthians 7according to the ,douay translation of the ,vulgate1 which is accepted by the ,church of ,rome71 he said3 #h--;,but ,i say unto you the unmarried and the widows2 it is good if they continue even as ,i4 #i--;,but if they do not contain themselves1 let them marry1 for it is better to marry than to be burnt4 ,when the church became a political power rather than a strictly religious institution1 it needed a high birth rate to provide laymen to support its increasingly expensive organization4 ,it then began to exploit the sex force for its own interest4 ,it reversed its position in regard to children4 ,it encouraged marriage under its own control and exhorted women to bear as many children as possible4 ,the world was just as sordid and the birth wails of the infants were just as piteous1 but the needs of the hierarchy had changed4 ,so it modified the standard of sex morality to suit its own requirements--marriage now became a sacrament4 ,shrewd in changing its general policy from celibacy to marriage1 the church was equally shrewd in perpetuating the doctrine of woman's subjection for its own interest4 ,that doctrine was emphatically stated in the ,third ,chapter of the ,first ,epistle of ,peter and the ,fifth ,chapter of ,paul's ,epistle to the ,ephesians4 ,in the ,douay version of the latter1 we find this3 #bb--,let women be subject to their husbands as to the ,lord4 #bc--;,because the husband is the head of the wife2 as ,christ is the head of the ,church4 #bd--,therefore1 as the ,church is subject to ,christ1 so let the wives be to their husbands in all things4 ,these doctrines1 together with the teaching that sex life is of itself unclean1 formed the basis of morality as fixed by the ,roman church4 ,nor does the ,st4 ,james version of the ,bible1 generally used by ,protestant churches to-day1 differ greatly in these particulars from the accepted ,roman ,catholic version1 as a comparison will show4 ,if ,christianity turned the clock of general progress back a thousand years1 it turned back the clock two thousand years for woman4 ,its greatest outrage upon her was to forbid her to control the function of motherhood under any circumstances1 thus limiting her life's work to bringing forth and rearing children4 ,coincident with this1 the churchmen deprived her of her place in and before the courts1 in the schools1 in literature1 art and society4 ,they shut from her heart and her mind the knowledge of her love life and her reproductive functions4 ,they chained her to the position into which they had thrust her1 so that it is only after centuries of effort that she is even beginning to regain what was wrested from her4 ,christianity had no favorable effect upon women1 says ,donaldson1 but tended to lower their character and contract the range of their activity4 ,at the time when ,christianity dawned upon the world1 women had attained great freedom1 power and influence in the ,roman empire4 ,tradition was in favor of restriction1 but by a concurrence of circumstances1 women had been liberated from the enslaving fetters of the old legal forms4 ,they enjoyed freedom of intercourse in society4 ,they walked in the public thoroughfares with veils that did not hide their faces4 ,they dined in the company of men4 ,they studied literature and philosophy4 ,they took part in political movements4 ,they were allowed to defend their own law cases if they liked1 and they helped their husbands in the government of provinces and the writing of books4 ,and again3 ,one would have imagined that ,christianity would have favored the extension of woman's freedom4 ,in a very short time women are seen only in two capacities--as martyrs and deaconesses 7or nuns74 ,now what the early ,christians did was to strike the male out of the definition of man1 and human being out of the definition of woman4 ,man was a human being made to serve the highest and noblest purposes2 woman was a female1 made to serve only one4 ,thus the position attained by women of ,greece and ,rome through the exercise of family limitation1 and in a considerable degree of voluntary motherhood1 was swept away by the rising tide of ,christianity4 ,it would seem that this pernicious result was premeditated1 and that from the very early days of ,christianity1 there were among the hierarchy those who recognized the creative power of the feminine spirit1 the force of which they sought to turn to their own uses4 ,certain it is that the hierarchy created about the whole love life of woman an atmosphere of degradation4 ,fear and shame have stood as grim guardians against the gate of knowledge and constructive idealism4 ,the sex life of women has been clouded in darkness1 restrictive1 repressive and morbid4 ,women have not had the opportunity to know themselves1 nor have they been permitted to give play to their inner natures1 that they might create a morality practical1 idealistic and high for their own needs4 ,on the other hand1 church and state have forbidden women to leave their legal mates1 or to refuse to submit to the marital embrace1 no matter how filthy1 drunken1 diseased or otherwise repulsive the man might be--no matter how much of a crime it might be to bring to birth a child by him4 ,woman was and is condemned to a system under which the lawful rapes exceed the unlawful ones a million to one4 ,she has had nothing to say as to whether she shall have strength sufficient to give a child a fair physical and mental start in life2 she has had as little to do with determining whether her own body shall be wrecked by excessive child-bearing4 ,she has been adjured not to complain of the burden of caring for children she has not wanted4 ,only the married woman who has been constantly loved by the most understanding and considerate of husbands has escaped these horrors4 ,besides the wrongs done to women in marriage1 those involved in promiscuity1 infidelities and rapes become inconsequential in nature and in number4 ,out of woman's inner nature1 in rebellion against these conditions1 is rising the new morality4 ,let it be realized that this creation of new sex ideals is a challenge to the church4 ,being a challenge to the church1 it is also1 in less degree1 a challenge to the state4 ,the woman who takes a fearless stand for the incoming sex ideals must expect to be assailed by reactionaries of every kind4 ,imperialists and exploiters will fight hardest in the open1 but the ecclesiastic will fight longest in the dark4 ,he understands the situation best of all2 he best knows what reaction he has to fear from the morals of women who have attained liberty4 ,for1 be it repeated1 the church has always known and feared the spiritual potentialities of woman's freedom4 ,and in this lies the answer to the question why the opponent of birth control raises the moral issue4 ,sex morals for women have been one-sided2 they have been purely negative1 inhibitory and repressive4 ,they have been fixed by agencies which have sought to keep women enslaved2 which have been determined1 even as they are now1 to use woman solely as an asset to the church1 the state and the man4 ,any means of freedom which will enable women to live and think for themselves first1 will be attacked as immoral by these selfish agencies4 ,what effect will the practice of birth control have upon woman's moral development8 ,as we have seen in other chapters1 it will break her bonds4 ,it will free her to understand the cravings and soul needs of herself and other women4 ,it will enable her to develop her love nature separate from and independent of her maternal nature4 ,it goes without saying that the woman whose children are desired and are of such number that she can not only give them adequate care but keep herself mentally and spiritually alive1 as well as physically fit1 can discharge her duties to her children much better than the overworked1 broken and querulous mother of a large1 unwanted family4 ,thus the way is open to her for a twofold development2 first1 through her own full rounded life1 and next1 through her loving1 unstrained1 full-hearted relationship with her offspring4 ,the bloom of mother love will have an opportunity to infuse itself into her soul and make her1 indeed1 the fond1 affectionate guardian of her offspring that sentiment now pictures her but hard facts deny her the privilege of being4 ,she will preserve also her love life with her mate in its ripening perfection4 ,she will want children with a deeper passion1 and will love them with a far greater love4 ,in spite of the age-long teaching that sex life in itself is unclean1 the world has been moving to a realization that a great love between a man and woman is a holy thing1 freighted with great possibilities for spiritual growth4 ,the fear of unwanted children removed1 the assurance that she will have a sufficient amount of time in which to develop her love life to its greatest beauty1 with its comradeship in many fields--these will lift woman by the very soaring quality of her innermost self to spiritual heights that few have attained4 ,then the coming of eagerly desired children will but enrich life in all its avenues1 rather than enslave and impoverish it as do unwanted ones to-day4 ,what healthier grounds for the growth of sound morals could possibly exist than the ample spiritual life of the woman just depicted8 ,free to follow the feminine spirit1 which dwells in the sanctuary of her nature1 she will1 in her daily life1 give expression to that high idealism which is the fruit of that spirit when it is unhampered and unviolated4 ,the love for her mate will flower in beauty of deeds that are pure because they are the natural expression of her physical1 mental and spiritual being4 ,the love for desired children will come to blossom in a spirituality that is high because it is free to reach the heights4 ,the moral force of woman's nature will be unchained--and of its own dynamic power will uplift her to a plane unimagined by those holding fast to the old standards of church morality4 ,love is the greatest force of the universe2 freed of its bonds of submission and unwanted progeny1 it will formulate and compel of its own nature observance to standards of purity far beyond the highest conception of the average moralist4 ,the feminine spirit1 animated by joyous1 triumphant love1 will make its own high tenets of morality4 ,free womanhood1 out of the depths of its rich experiences1 will observe and comply with the inner demands of its being4 ,the manner in which it learns to do this best may be said to be the moral law of woman's being4 ,so1 in whatever words the new morality may ultimately be expressed1 we can at least be sure that it will meet certain needs4 ,first of all1 it will meet the physical and psychic requirements of the woman herself1 for she cannot adequately perform the feminine functions until these are met4 ,second1 it will meet the needs of the child to be conceived in a love which is eager to bring forth a new life1 to be brought into a home where love and harmony prevail1 a home in which proper preparation has been made for its coming4 ,this situation implies in turn a number of conditions4 ,foremost among them is woman's knowledge of her sexual nature1 both in its physiology and its spiritual significance4 ,she must not only know her own body1 its care and its needs1 but she must know the power of the sex force1 its use1 its abuse1 as well as how to direct it for the benefit of the race4 ,thus she can transmit to her children an equipment that will enable them to break the bonds that have held humanity enslaved for ages4 ,to achieve this she must have a knowledge of birth control4 ,she must also assert and maintain her right to refuse the marital embrace except when urged by her inner nature4 ,the truth makes free4 ,viewed in its true aspect1 the very beauty and wonder of the creative impulse will make evident its essential purity4 ,we will then instinctively idealize and keep holy that physical-spiritual expression which is the foundation of all human life1 and in that conception of sex will the race he exalted4 ,what can we expect of offspring that are the result of accidents--who are brought into being undesired and in fear8 ,what can we hope for from a morality that surrounds each physical union1 for the woman1 with an atmosphere of submission and shame8 ,what can we say for a morality that leaves the husband at liberty to communicate to his wife a venereal disease8 ,subversion of the sex urge to ulterior purposes has dragged it to the level of the gutter4 ,recognition of its true nature and purpose must lift the race to spiritual freedom4 ,out of our growing knowledge we are evolving new and saner ideas of life in general4 ,out of our increasing sex knowledge we shall evolve new ideals of sex4 ,these ideals will spring from the innermost needs of women4 ,they will serve these needs and express them4 ,they will be the foundation of a moral code that will tend to make fruitful the impulse which is the source1 the soul and the crowning glory of our sexual natures4 ,when women have raised the standards of sex ideals and purged the human mind of its unclean conception of sex1 the fountain of the race will have been cleansed4 ,mothers will bring forth1 in purity and in joy1 a race that is morally and spiritually free4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,legislating ,,woman',s ,,morals ,one of the important duties before those women who are demanding birth control as a means to a ,new ,race is the changing of our so-called obscenity laws4 ,this will be no easy undertaking2 it is usually much easier to enact statutes than to revise them4 ,laws are seldom exactly what they seem1 rarely what their advocates claim for them4 ,the obscenity statutes are particularly deceptive4 ,enacted1 avowedly1 to protect society against the obscene and the lewd1 they make no distinction between the scientific works of human emancipators like ,forel and ,ellis and printed matter such as they are ostensibly aimed at4 ,naturally enough1 then1 detectives and narrow-minded judges and prosecutors who would chuckle over pictures that would make a clean-minded woman shudder1 unite to suppress the scientific works and the birth-control treatises which would enable men and women to attain higher physical1 mental1 moral and spiritual standards4 ,woman1 bent upon her freedom and seeking to make a better world1 will not permit the indecent and unclean forces of reaction to mask themselves forever behind the plea that it is necessary to keep her in ignorance to preserve her purity4 ,in the birth-control movement1 she has already begun to fight for her right to have1 without legal interference1 all knowledge pertaining to her sex nature4 ,this is the third and most important of the epoch-making battles for general liberty upon ,american soil4 ,it is most important because it is to purify the very fountain of the race and make the race completely free4 ,the first and most dramatic of the three great struggles for liberty reached its apex1 as we know1 in the ,american ,revolution4 ,it had for its object the right to hold such political beliefs as one might choose1 and to act in accordance with those beliefs4 ,if this political freedom is now lost to us1 it is because we did not hold strongly enough to those liberties fought for by our forefathers4 ,nearly a hundred years after the ,revolution the battle for religious liberty came to a climax in the career of ,robert ,g4 ,ingersoll4 ,his championship of the much vaunted and little exercised freedom of religious opinion swept the blasphemy laws into the lumber room of outworn tyrannies4 ,those yet remaining upon the statute books are invoked but rarely1 and then the effort to enforce them is ridiculous4 ,within a few years the tragic combination of false moral standards and infamous obscenity laws will be as ridiculous in the public mind as are the now all but forgotten blasphemy laws4 ,if the obscenity laws are not radically revised or repealed1 few reactionaries will dare to face the public derision that will greet their attempts to use them to stay woman's progress4 ,the ,french have a saying concerning mort main--the dead hand4 ,this hand of the past reaches up into the present to smother the rising flame of modern ideals1 to reforge our chains when we have broken them1 to arrest progress4 ,it is the hand of such as have lived on earth but have not loved humanity4 ,at the call of those who fear progress and freedom1 it rises from the gloom of forgotten things to oppress the living4 ,it is the dead hand that holds imprisoned within the obscenity laws all direct information concerning birth control4 ,it is the dead hand that thus compels millions of ,american women to remain in the bondage of maternity4 ,previous to the year #ahfh1 the obscenity laws of the various states in the ,union contained no specific prohibition of information concerning contraceptives4 ,in that year1 however1 the ,general ,assembly of ,new ,york passed an act which specifically included the subject of contraceptives4 ,the act made it exactly as great an offense to give such information as to exhibit the sort of pictures and writings at which the legislation was ostensibly aimed4 ,in #ahgc1 the late ,anthony ,comstock1 who with a list of contributors1 most of whom did not realize the real effects of his work1 constituted the so-called ,society for the ,suppression of ,vice1 succeeded in obtaining the passage of the federal obscenity act4 ,this act was presented as one to prevent the circulation of pornographic literature and pictures among school children4 ,as such1 it was rushed through with two hundred sixty other acts in the closing hours of the ,congress4 ,this act made it a crime to use the mails to convey contraceptives or information concerning contraceptives4 ,other acts later made the original law applicable to express companies and other common carriers1 as well as to the mails4 ,with this precedent established--a precedent which a majority of the congressmen could hardly have understood because of the hasty passage of the act--,comstock secured the enactment of state laws to the same effect4 ,meanwhile1 the provisions regarding contraceptives had been dropped from the amended ,new ,york ,state law of #ahgb4 ,in #ahgc1 however1 a new section1 said to have been drafted by ,comstock himself1 was substituted for the one enacted in #ahgb1 and that section is essentially the substance of the present law4 ,none of these acts made it an offense to prevent conception--all of them provided punishment for anyone disseminating information concerning the prevention of conception4 ,in the federal statutes1 the maximum penalties were fixed at a fine of #e1jjj or five years imprisonment1 or both4 ,the usual maximum penalty under a state law is a fine of #a1jjj or one year's imprisonment1 or both4 ,comstock has passed out of public notice4 ,his body has been entombed but the evil that he did lives after him4 ,his dead hand still reaches forth to keep the subject of prevention of conception where he placed it--in the same legal category with things unclean and vile4 ,forty years ago the laws were changed and the chief work of ,comstock's life accomplished4 ,those laws still live1 legal monuments to ignorance and to oppression4 ,through those laws reaches the dead hand to bring to the operating table each year hundreds of thousands of women who undergo the agony of abortion4 ,each year this hand reaches out to compel the birth of hundreds of thousands of infants who must die before they are twelve months old4 ,like many laws upon our statute books1 these are being persistently and intelligently violated4 ,few members of the well-to-do and wealthy classes think for a single moment of obeying them4 ,they limit their families to one1 two or three well-cared-for children4 ,usually the prosecutor who presents the case against a birth-control advocate1 trapped by a detective hired by the ,comstock ,society1 has no children at all or a small family4 ,the family of the judge who passes upon the case is likely to be smaller still4 ,the words ,it is the law sums it all up for these officials when they pass sentence in court4 ,but these words1 so magical to the official mind1 have no weight when these same officials are adjusting their own private lives4 ,they then obey the higher laws of their own beings--they break the obsolete statutes for themselves while enforcing them for others4 ,this is not the situation with the poorer people of the ,united ,states1 however4 ,millions of them know nothing of reliable contraceptives4 ,when women of the impoverished strata of society do not break these laws against contraceptives1 they violate those laws of their inner beings which tell them not to bring children into the world to live in want1 disease and general misery4 ,they break the first law of nature1 which is that of self preservation4 ,bound by false morals1 enchained by false conceptions of religion1 hindered by false laws1 they endure until the pressure becomes so great that morals1 religion and laws alike fail to restrain them4 ,then they for a brief respite resort to the surgeon's instruments4 ,for many years the semi-official witch hunting of the ,comstock organization had a remarkable and a deadly effect4 ,everyone1 whether it was novelist1 essayist1 publicist1 propagandist or artist1 who sought to throw definite light upon the forbidden subject of sex1 or upon family limitation1 was prosecuted if detected4 ,among the many books suppressed were works by physicians designed to warn young men and women away from the pitfalls of venereal diseases and sexual errors4 ,the darkness that surrounded the whole field of sex was made as complete as possible4 ,since then the feeling of the awakened women of ,america has intensified4 ,the rapidity with which women are going into industry1 the increasing hardship and poverty of the lower strata of society1 the arousing of public conscience1 have all operated to give force and volume to the demand for woman's right to control her own body that she may work out her own salvation4 ,those who believe in strictly legal measures1 as well as those who believe both in legal measures and in open defiance of these brutal and unjust laws1 are demanding amendments to the obscenity statutes1 which shall remove information concerning contraceptives from its present classification among things filthy and obscene4 ,an amendment typical of those offered is that drawn up for the ,new ,york statutes under the direction of ,samuel ,mc,clure ,lindsey1 of ,columbia ,university4 ,the words and sentences in italics are those which it proposed to add3 7,section #aade47 ,physicians' instruments and information4 ,an article or instrument used or applied by physicians lawfully practicing1 or by their direction or prescription1 for the cure or prevention of disease1 is not an article of indecent or immoral nature or use1 within this article4 ,the supplying of such articles to such physicians or by their direction or prescription1 is not an offense under this article4 ,the giving by a duly licensed physician or registered nurse lawfully practicing1 of information or advice in regard to1 or the supplying to any person of any article or medicine for the prevention of1 conception is not a violation of any provision of this article4 ,this proposed amendment should without doubt include midwives as well as nurses4 ,there are thousands of women who never see a nurse or a physician4 ,under this section1 even as it now stands1 physicians have a right to prescribe contraceptives1 but few of them have claimed that right or have even known that it has existed4 ,it does exist1 however1 and was specifically declared by the ,new ,york ,state ,court of ,appeals1 as we shall see when we consider that court's opinion in the ,sanger case1 farther on in the book4 ,it can do no harm to make the intent of the law as regards physicians plainer1 and it would be an immense step forward to include nurses and midwives in the section4 ,with this addition it would remove one of the most serious obstacles to the freedom and advancement of ,american womanhood4 ,every woman interested in the welfare of women in general should make it her business to agitate for such a change in the obscenity laws4 ,the above provision would take care of the case of the woman who is ill1 or who is plainly about to become ill1 but it does not take care of the vast body of women who have not yet ruined their health by childbearing and who are not yet suffering from diseases complicated by pregnancy4 ,if this amendment had been attached to the laws in all the states1 there would still remain much to be done4 ,shall we go on indefinitely driving the now healthy mother of two children into the hands of the abortionist1 where she goes in preference to constant ill health1 overwork and the witnessing of dying and starving babies8 ,it is each woman's duty to herself and to society to hasten the repeal of all laws against the communication of birth-control information now that she has the vote1 she should use her political influence to strike1 first of all1 at these restrictive statutes4 ,it is not to her credit that a district attorney1 arguing against a birth control advocate1 is able to show that women have made no effort to wipe out such laws in states where they have had the ballot for years4 ,it is time that women assert themselves upon this fundamental right1 and the first and best use they can make of the ballot is in this direction4 ,these laws were made by men and have been instruments of martyrdom and death for unnumbered thousands of women4 ,women now have the opportunity to sweep them into the trash heap4 ,they will do it at once unless1 like men1 they use the ballot for those political honors which many years of experience have taught men to be hollow4 ,it is only a question of how long it will take women to make up their minds to this result4 ,the law of woman's being is stronger than any statute1 and the man-made law must sooner or later give way to it4 ,man has not protected woman in matters most vital to her--but she is awaking and will sooner or later realize this and assert herself4 ,if she acts in mass now1 it will be another cheering evidence that she is moving consciously toward her goal4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,why ,,not ,,birth-,,control ,,clinics ,,in ,,america ,footnote3 ,this chapter1 in substance1 and largely in language1 appeared under the present title in the ,march1 #aibj1 issue of ,american ,medicine 7,new ,york7 and is incorporated in this book by courtesy of that publication4 ,the absurd cruelty of permitting thousands of women each year to go through abortions to prevent the aggravation of diseases for which they are under treatment assuredly cannot be much longer ignored by the medical profession4 ,responsibility for the inestimable damage done by the practice of permitting patients suffering from certain ailments to become pregnant1 because of their ignorance of contraceptives1 when the physician knows that if pregnancy goes to its full term it will hasten the disease and lead to the patient's death1 must in all fairness be laid at his door4 ,what these diseases are and what dangers are involved in pregnancy are known to every practitioner of standing4 ,specialists have not been negligent in pointing out the situation4 ,eager to enhance or protect their reputations in the profession1 they continually call out to one another3 ,don't let the patient bear a child--don't let pregnancy continue4 ,the warning has been sounded most often1 perhaps1 in the cases of tubercular women4 ,in view of the fact that the tubercular process becomes exacerbated either during pregnancy or after childbirth1 most authorities recommend that abortion be induced as a matter of routine in all tubercular women1 says ,dr4 ,j4 ,whitridge ,williams1 obstetrician-in-chief to the ,johns ,hopkins ,hospital1 in his treatise on ,obstetrics4 ,dr4 ,thomas ,watts ,eden1 obstetrician and gynecologist to ,charing ,cross ,hospital and member of the staffs of other notable ,british hospitals1 extends but does not complete the list in this paragraph on page #feb of his ,practical ,obstetrics3 ,certain of the conditions enumerated form absolute indications for the induction of abortion4 ,these are nephritis1 uncompensated valvular lesions of the heart1 advanced tuberculosis1 insanity1 irremediable malignant tumors1 hydatidiform mole1 uncontrollable uterine hemorrhage1 and acute hydramnios4 ,we know that abortion1 when performed by skilled hands1 under right conditions1 brings almost no danger to the life of the patient1 and we also know that particular diseases can be more easily combatted after such an abortion than during a pregnancy allowed to come to full term4 ,but why not adopt the easier1 safer1 less repulsive course and prevent conception altogether8 ,why put these thousands of women who each year undergo such abortions to the pain they entail and in whatever danger attends them8 ,why continue to send home women to whom pregnancy is a grave danger with the futile advice3 ,now don't get this way again6 ,they are sent back to husbands who have generations of passion and passion's claim to outlet4 ,they are sent back without being given information as to how to prevent the dangerous pregnancy and are expected1 presumably1 to depend for their safety upon the husband's continence4 ,the wife and husband are thrown together to bring about once more the same condition4 ,back comes the patient again in a few months to be aborted and told once more not to do it again4 ,does any physician believe that the picture is overdrawn8 ,i have known of many such cases4 ,a recent one that came under my observation was that of a woman who suffered from a disease of the kidneys4 ,five times she was taken to a maternity hospital in an ambulance after falling in offices or in the street4 ,one of the foremost gynecologists of ,america sent her out three times without giving her information as to the contraceptive means which would have prevented a repetition of this experience4 ,why does this situation exist8 ,we do not question the good intent nor the high purposes of these physicians4 ,we know that they observe a high standard of ethics and that they are working for the uplift of the race4 ,but here is a situation that is absurd--hideously absurd4 ,what is the matter8 ,several factors contribute to this state of affairs4 ,first1 the subject of contraception has been kept in the dark1 even in medical colleges and in hospitals4 ,abortion has been openly discussed as a necessity under certain conditions1 but the subject of contraception1 as any physician will admit1 has not yet been brought to the front4 ,it has escaped specialized attention in the laboratories and the research departments4 ,thus there has been no professional stamp of approval by great bodies of experimenters4 ,the result is that the average physician has felt that contraceptive methods are not yet established as certainties and has1 for that reason1 refused to direct their use4 ,specialists are so busy with their own particular subjects and general practitioners are so taken up with their daily routine that they cannot give to the problem of contraception the attention it must have4 ,consultation rooms in charge of reputable physicians who have specialized in contraception1 assisted by registered nurses--in a word1 clinics designed for this specialty1 would meet this crying need4 ,such clinics should deal with each woman individually1 taking into account her particular disease1 her temperament1 her mentality and her condition1 both physical and economic4 ,their sole function should be to prevent pregnancy4 ,in accomplishing this purpose1 a higher standard of hygiene is attained4 ,not only would a burden be removed from the physician who sends a woman to such a clinic1 but there would be an improvement in the woman's general condition which would in a number of ways reflect itself in benefit to her family4 ,all this for the diseased woman4 ,but every argument that can be made for preventive medicine can be made for birth-control clinics for the use of the woman who has not yet lost her health4 ,sound and vigorous at the time of her marriage1 she could remain so if given advice as to by what means she could space her children and limit their number4 ,when she is not given such information1 she is plunged blindly into married life and a few years is likely to find her with a large family1 herself diseased and damaged1 an unfit breeder of the unfit1 and still ignorant6 ,what are the fruits of this woeful ignorance in which women have been kept8 ,first1 a tremendous infant mortality--hundreds of thousands of babies dying annually of diseases which flourish in poverty and neglect4 ,next1 the rapid increase of the feebleminded1 of criminal types and of the pathetic victims of toil in the child-labor factories4 ,another result is the familiar overcrowding of tenements1 the forcing of the children into the street1 the ensuing prostitution1 alcoholism and almost universal physical and moral unfitness4 ,those abhorrent conditions point to a blunder upon the part of those to whom we have entrusted the care of the health of the individual1 the family and the race4 ,the medical profession1 neglecting the principle involved in preventive medicine1 has permitted these conditions to come about4 ,if they were unavoidable1 we should have to bear with them1 but they are not unavoidable1 as shown by facts and figures from other countries where contraceptive information is available4 ,in ,holland1 for instance1 where the information concerning contraceptives has been accessible to the people1 through clinics and pamphlets1 since #ahha1 the general death rate and the infant mortality rate have fallen until they are the lowest in ,europe4 ,amsterdam and ,the ,hague have the lowest infant mortality rates of any cities in the world4 ,it is good to know that the first of the birth-control clinics of ,holland followed shortly after a thorough and enthusiastic discussion of the subject at an international medical congress in ,amsterdam in #ahgh4 ,the ,dutch ,neo-,malthusian ,league was founded in #ahha4 ,the first birth-control clinic in the world was opened in #ahhe by ,dr4 ,aletta ,jacobs in ,amsterdam4 ,so great were the results obtained that there has been a remarkable increase in the wealth1 stamina1 stature and longevity of the people1 as well as a gradual increase in the population4 ,these clinics must not be confused with the white enameled rooms which we associate with the term in ,america4 ,they are ordinary offices with the necessary equipment1 or rooms in the homes of the nurses1 fitted out for the work4 ,they are places for consultation and examination1 opened by specially trained nurses who have been instructed by ,dr4 ,j4 ,rutgers1 of ,the ,hague1 secretary of the ,neo-,malthusian ,league1 who has devoted his life to this work4 ,there have been more than fifty nurses trained specially for this work by ,dr4 ,rutgers4 ,as a nurse completes her course of training1 she establishes herself in a community and her place of consultation is called a clinic4 ,the general results of this service are best judged by tables included in the ,annual ,summary of ,marriages1 ,births and ,deaths in ,england1 ,wales1 ,etc41 for #aiab4 ,footnote3 7,see table on page #bjh47 ,in ,amsterdam1 the birth rate dropped from #cg4a for the period of #ahha-he to #bd4g for #aijf and #bc4c in #aiab4 ,during the same periods1 the death rate fell from #be4a to #ac4a1 and in #aiab to #aa4b4 ,infant mortality for the same period fell from #bjc for each thousand living births to #ij1 and in #aiab to #fd4 ,illegitimate fertility also decreased4 ,results in other cities1 as shown by the table at the end of this chapter1 are exactly similar4 ,in the ,australian ,commonwealth1 where birth control is taken as a matter of course1 and information concerning contraceptives is available to the masses1 the births were so well distributed in #aiae that while the birth rate was #bg4c1 there was an infant death rate of only #aj4g4 ,new ,zealand1 which is also one of the typical birth-control countries1 had a birth rate of #be4c and an infant death rate of only #i4a for the same year4 ,these figures are in marked and happy contrast with those for the birth registration of the ,united ,states1 where the reports for #aiaf show a birth rate of #bd4h1 but an infant death rate of #ad4g4 ,a similar comparison may be made with the ,german ,empire in #aiac1 where there was a birth rate of #bg4e in #aiac and an infant mortality rate of #ae4 ,in these countries1 birth control information is not so generally within the reach of the masses and1 consequently1 the largest percentage of births come to that class least able to bring children to full maturity1 as indicated in the infant mortality rates4 ,in conclusion1 ,i am going to make a statement which may at first seem exaggerated1 but which is1 nevertheless1 carefully considered4 ,the effort toward racial progress that is being made to-day by the medical profession1 by social workers1 by the various charitable and philanthropic organizations and by state institutions for the physically and mentally unfit1 is practically wasted4 ,all these forces are in a very emphatic sense marking time4 ,they will continue to mark time until the medical profession recognizes the fact that the ever increasing tide of the unfit is overwhelming all that these agencies are doing for society4 ,they will continue to mark time until they get at the source of these destructive conditions and apply a fundamental remedy4 ,that remedy is birth control4 ---------------------------------------- ------- ,footnote3 ,amsterdam ,malthusian 7,birth ,control7 ,league started #ahha2 ,dr4 ,aletta ,jacobs gave advice to poor women1 #ahhe3 #ahha-he #aijf-aj #aiab ,birth rate444444444 #cg4a #bg4g #bc4c per #a1jjj of population ,death rate444444444 #be4a #ac4a #aa4b per #a1jjj of population ,,infantile ,,mortality3 ,deaths in first year4444444444444444 #bjc #ij #fd per thousand living births ,the ,hague now headquarters of the ,neo-,malthusian 7,birth ,control7 ,league3 #ahha-he #aijf-aj #aiab ,birth rate44444444444 #ch4g #bg4e #bc4f per #a1jjj of population ,death rate44444444444 #bc4c #ac4b #aj4i per #a1jjj of population ,,infantile ,,mortality3 ,deaths in first year44444444444444444 #bad #ii #ff per thousand living births ,these figures are the lowest in the whole list of death rates and infantile mortalities in the summary of births and deaths in cities in this report4 ,rotterdam3 #ahha-he #aijf-aj #aiab ,birth rate4444444444 #cg4d #cb4j #bi4j per #a1jjj of population ,death rate4444444444 #bd4b #ac4d #aa4c per #a1jjj of population ,,infantile ,,mortality3 ,deaths in first year4444444444444444 #bji #aje #gi per thousand living births ,fertility and ,illegitimacy ,rates3 #ahhj-b #ahij-b #aijj-b 7,legitimate births per #a1jjj married women ,legitimate fertility44 #cjf4d #bif4e #beb4g aged #ae to #de47 #ahhj-b #ahij-b #aijj-b 7,illegitimate births per #a1jjj unmarried women1 ,illegitimate fertility44#af4a #af4c #aa4c aged #ae to #de47 ,the ,hague3 #ahhj-b #ahij-b #aijj-b ,legitimate fertility4444 #cdf4e #cjc4i #bee4j ,illegitimate fertility444 #ac4d #ac4f #g4g ,rotterdam3 #ahhj-b #ahij-b #aijj-b ,legitimate fertility4444 #cca4d #cab4j #bii4j ,illegitimate fertility444 #ag4d #af4e #ac4a ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,progress ,,we ,,have ,,made ,the silence of the centuries has been broken4 ,the wrongs of woman and the rights of woman have found voices4 ,these voices differ from all others that have been raised in woman's behalf4 ,they are not the individual protests of great feminine minds1 nor the masculine remedies for masculine oppression suggested by the stricken consciences of a few men4 ,great voices are heard1 both of women and of men1 but intermingled with them are millions of voices demanding freedom4 ,let it be repeated that movements mothered by emancipated women are often deceptive in character4 ,the demand for suffrage1 the agitation against child labor1 the regulation of working hours for women1 the insistence upon mothers' pensions are palliatives all4 ,yet as woman's understanding develops and she learns to think at the urgence of her own inner nature1 rather than at the dictates of men1 she moves on from these palliatives to fundamental remedies4 ,so at the crest of the wave of woman's revolt comes the movement for voluntary motherhood--not a separate1 isolated movement1 but the manifestation of a cosmic force--the force that moves the wave itself4 ,the walls of the cloister have fallen before the cries of a rising womanhood4 ,the barriers of prurient puritanism are being demolished4 ,free woman has torn the veil of indecency from the secrets of life to reveal them in their power and their purity4 ,womanhood yet bound has beheld and understood4 ,a public whose thoughts and opinions had been governed by men and by women engulfed in the old order has been shocked awake4 ,sneers and jests at birth control are giving way to a reverent understanding of the needs of woman4 ,they who to-day deny the right of a woman to control her own body speak with the hardihood of invincible ignorance or with the folly of those blind ones who in all ages have opposed the light of progress4 ,few there are to insist openly that woman remain a passive instrument of reproduction4 ,the subject of birth control is being lifted out of the mire into which it was cast by puritanism and given its proper place among the sciences and the ideals of this generation4 ,with this effort has come an illumination of all other social problems4 ,society is beginning to give ear to the promise of modern womanhood3 ,when you have ceased to chain me1 ,i shall by the virtue of a free motherhood remake the world4 ,it would be miraculous indeed if that victory which has been won1 had been gained without great toil1 insufferable anguish and sacrifice such as all persons experience when they dare to brave the conventions of the dead past or blaze a trail for a new order4 ,but where the vision is clear1 the faith deep1 forces unseen rally to assist and carry one over barriers which would otherwise have been insurmountable4 ,no part of this wave of woman's emancipation has won its way without such vision and faith4 ,this is the one movement in which pioneering was unnecessary4 ,the cry for deliverance always goes up4 ,it is its own pioneer4 ,the facts have always stared us in the face4 ,no one who has worked among women can be ignorant of them4 ,i remember that ever since ,i was a child1 the idea of large families associated itself with poverty in my mind4 ,as ,i grew to womanhood1 and found myself working in hospitals and in the homes of the rich and the poor1 the association between the two ideas grew stronger4 ,in every home of the poor1 women asked me the same question4 ,as far back as #aijj1 ,i began to inquire of my associates among the nurses what one could tell these worried women who asked constantly3 ,what can ,i do8 ,it is the voice of the elemental urge of woman--it has always been there2 and whether we have heeded it or neglected it1 we have always heard it4 ,out of this cry came the birth control movement4 ,economic conditions have naturally made this elemental need more plain2 sometimes they have lent a more desperate voice to woman's cry for freedom4 ,men and women have arisen since ,knowlton and ,robert ,dale ,owen1 to advocate the use of contraceptives1 but aside from these two none has come forward to separate it from other issues of sex freedom4 ,but the birth control movement as a movement for woman's basic freedom was born of that unceasing cry of the socially repressed1 spiritually stifled woman who is constantly demanding3 ,what can ,i do to avoid more children8 ,when it came time to arouse new public interest in birth control and organize a movement1 it was found expedient to employ direct and drastic methods to awaken a slumbering public4 ,the ,woman ,rebel1 a monthly magazine1 was established to proclaim the gospel of revolt4 ,when its mission was accomplished and the words birth control were on their way to be a symbol of woman's freedom in all civilized tongues1 it went out of existence4 ,the deceptive obscenity law1 invoked oftener to repress womanhood and smother scientific knowledge than to restrain the distribution of verbal and pictorial pornography1 was deliberately challenged4 ,this course had two purposes4 ,it challenged the constitutionality of the law and thereby brought knowledge of contraceptives to hundreds of thousands of women4 ,the first general1 organized effort reached in various ways to all parts of the ,united ,states4 ,particular attention was paid to the mining districts of ,west ,virginia and ,montana1 the mill towns of ,new ,england and the cotton districts of the ,southern states4 ,men and women from all these districts welcomed the movement4 ,they sent letters pledging their loyalty and their active assistance4 ,they participated directly and indirectly in the protest which awakened the country4 ,as time went on1 the work was extended to various foreign elements of the population1 this being made possible by the enthusiastic cooperation of workers who speak the foreign languages4 ,leagues were formed to organize those who favored changing the laws4 ,lectures were delivered throughout the ,united ,states4 ,articles were written by eminent physicians1 scientists1 reformers and revolutionists4 ,debates were arranged4 ,newspapers and magazines of all kinds1 classes and languages gave the subject of birth control serious attention1 taking one side or the other of the discussion that was aroused4 ,new books on the subject began to appear4 ,books by foreign authors were reprinted and distributed in the ,united ,states4 ,the ,birth ,control ,review1 edited by voluntary effort and supported by a stock company of women who make contributions instead of taking dividends1 was founded and continues its work4 ,after a year's study in foreign countries for the purpose of supplementing the knowledge gained in my fourteen years as a nurse1 ,i came back to the ,united ,states determined to open a clinic4 ,i had decided that there could be no better way of demonstrating to the public the necessity of birth control and the welcome it would receive than by taking the knowledge of contraceptive methods directly to those who most needed it4 ,a clinic was opened in ,brooklyn4 ,there #dhj women received information before the police closed the consulting rooms and arrested ,ethel ,byrne1 a registered nurse1 ,fania ,mindell1 a translator1 and myself4 ,the purpose of this clinic was to demonstrate to the public the practicability and the necessity of such institutions4 ,all women who came seeking information were workingmen's wives4 ,all had children4 ,no unmarried girls came at all4 ,men came whose wives had nursing children and could not come4 ,women came from the farther parts of ,long ,island1 from cities in ,massachusetts and ,connecticut and even more distant places4 ,mothers brought their married daughters4 ,some whose ages were from #be to #ce looked fifty1 but the clinic gave them new hope to face the years ahead4 ,these women invariably expressed their love for children1 but voiced a common plea for means to avoid others1 in order that they might give sufficient care to those already born4 ,they wanted them to grow up decent4 ,for ten days the two rooms of this clinic were crowded to their utmost4 ,then came the police4 ,we were hauled off to jail and eventually convicted of a crime4 ,ethel ,byrne instituted a hunger strike for eleven days1 which attracted attention throughout the nation4 ,it brought to public notice the fact that women were ready to die for the principle of voluntary motherhood4 ,so strong was the sentiment evoked that ,governor ,whitman pardoned ,mrs4 ,byrne4 ,no single act of self-sacrifice in the history of the birth-control movement has done more to awaken the conscience of the public or to arouse the courage of women1 than did ,ethel ,byrne's deed of uncompromising resentment at the outrage of jailing women who were attempting to disseminate knowledge which would emancipate the motherhood of ,america4 ,courage like hers and like that of others who have undergone arrest and imprisonment1 or who night after night and day after day have faced street crowds to speak or to sell literature--the faith and the untiring labors of still others who have not come into public notice--have given the movement its dauntless character and assure the final victory4 ,one dismal fact had become clear long before the ,brownsville clinic was opened4 ,the medical profession as a whole had ignored the tragic cry of womanhood for relief from forced maternity4 ,the private practitioners1 one after another1 shook their heads and replied3 ,it cannot be done4 ,it is against the law1 and the same answer came from clinics and public hospitals4 ,the decision of the ,new ,york ,state ,court of ,appeals has disposed of that objection1 however1 though as yet few physicians have cared to make public the fact that they take advantage of the decision4 ,while the decision of the lower courts in my own case was upheld1 partly because ,i was a nurse and not a physician1 the court incidentally held that under the laws as they now stand in ,new ,york1 any physician has a right to impart information concerning contraceptives to women as a measure for curing or preventing disease4 ,the ,united ,states ,supreme ,court threw out my appeal without consideration of the merits of the case4 ,therefore1 the decision of the ,new ,york ,state ,court of ,appeals stands4 ,and under that decision1 a physician has a right1 and it is therefore his duty1 to prescribe contraceptives in such cases1 at least1 as those involving disease4 ,it is true that ,section #aadb of the ,penal ,code of ,new ,york ,state does not except the medical man1 and does not allow him to instruct his patient in birth control methods1 even though she is suffering from tuberculosis1 syphilis1 kidney disorders or heart disease4 ,without looking farther1 the physicians had let that section go at its face value4 ,no doctor had questioned either its purpose or its legal scope4 ,the medical profession was content to let this apparent limitation upon its rights stand1 and it remained for a woman to go to jail to demonstrate the fact that under another section of the same code--#aade--the physician had the vital right just described4 ,it is safe to say that many physicians do not even yet know of their legal rights in this matter4 ,but here is what the ,new ,york ,state ,court of ,appeals said on ,january #h1 #aiah1 in an opinion thus far unquestioned and which is the law of the state3 ,secondly1 by section #aade of the ,penal ,law1 physicians are excepted from the provisions of this act under circumstances therein mentioned4 ,this section reads3 ',an article or instrument1 used or applied by physicians lawfully practicing1 or by their direction or prescription1 for the cure or prevention of disease1 is not an article of indecent or immoral nature or use1 within this article4 ,the supplying of such articles to such physicians or by their direction or prescription1 is not an offense under this article4' ,this exception in behalf of physicians does not permit advertisements regarding such matters1 nor promiscuous advice to patients irrespective of their condition1 but it is broad enough to protect the physician who in good faith gives such help or advice to a married person to cure or prevent disease4 ',disease1' by ,webster's ,international ,dictionary1 is defined to be1 'an alteration in the state of the body1 or of some of its organs1 interrupting or disturbing the performance of the vital functions1 and causing or threatening pain and sickness2 illness1 disorder4' ,the protection thus afforded the physician would also extend to the druggist1 or vendor1 acting upon the physician's prescription or order4 ,section #aadb1 which shamelessly classes contraceptive information with abortion and things obscene1 still stands1 but under the decision of the ,court of ,appeals1 it is the law of ,new ,york ,state that physicians have the right which they were seemingly denied4 ,such is probably the fact1 also1 in many other states1 for the so-called obscenity laws are modelled more or less1 after the same pattern4 ,one of the chief results of the ,brownsville clinic was that of establishing for physicians a right which they neglected to establish for themselves1 but which they are bound1 in the very nature of things1 to exercise to an increasing degree4 ,similar tests by women in other states would doubtless establish the right elsewhere in ,america4 ,we know of some thirty-five arrests of women and men who have dared entrenched prejudice and the law to further the cause of birth control4 ,the persistent work in behalf of the movement1 attended as it was by danger of fines and jail sentences1 seemed to puzzle the authorities4 ,sometimes they dismissed the arrested persons1 sometimes they fined them1 sometimes they imprisoned them4 ,but the protests went on1 and through these self-sacrifices1 word of the movement went constantly to more and more people4 ,each of these arrests brought added publicity4 ,each became a center of local agitation4 ,each brought a part of the public1 at least1 face to face with the issue between the women of ,america and this barbarous law4 ,many thousands of letters have been answered and thousands of women have been given personal consultations4 ,each letter and each consultation means another center of influence from which the gospel of voluntary motherhood spreads4 ,forced thus to the front1 the problems of birth control and the right of voluntary motherhood have been brought more and more to the attention of medical students1 nurses1 midwives1 physicians1 scientists and sociologists4 ,a new literature1 ranging all the way from discussion of the means of preventing conception to the social1 political1 ethical1 moral and spiritual possibilities of birth control1 is coming into being4 ,woman's cry for liberty is infusing itself into the thoughts and the consciences and the aspirations of the intellectual leaders as well as into the idealism of society4 ,it is but a few years since it was said of ,the ,woman ,rebel that it was the first un-veiled head raised in ,america4 ,it is but a few years since men as well as women trembled at the temerity of a public discussion in which the subject of sex was mentioned4 ,but1 measured in progress1 it is a far cry from those days4 ,the public has read of birth control on the first page of its newspapers4 ,it has discussed it in meetings and in clubs4 ,it has been a favorite topic of discussion at correct teas4 ,the scientist is giving it reverent and profound attention4 ,even the minister1 seeking to keep abreast of the times1 proclaims it from the pulpit4 ,and everywhere1 serious-minded women and men1 those with the vision1 with a comprehension of present and future needs of society1 are working to bring this message to those who have not yet realized its immense and regenerating import4 ,the ,american public1 in a word1 has been permeated with the message of birth control4 ,its reaction to that message has been exceedingly encouraging4 ,people by the thousands have flocked to the meetings4 ,only the official mind1 serving ancient prejudices under the cloak of law and order1 has been in opposition4 ,it is plain that puritanism is in the throes of a lingering death4 ,if anyone doubts it1 let it be remembered that the same people who1 a few years ago1 formed the official opinion of puritanism have so far forsaken puritanism as to flood the country with millions of pamphlets discussing sex matters and venereal disease4 ,this literature was distributed by the ,united ,states ,government1 by state governments1 by the ,y4,m4,c4,a41 the ,y4,w4,c4,a41 and by similar organizations4 ,it treated the physiology of sex far more definitely than has birth-control literature4 ,this official educational barrage was at once a splendid salute to the right of women and men to know their own bodies and the last heavy firing in the main battle against ignorance in the field of sex4 ,what remains now is but to take advantage of the victories4 ,what does it all mean8 ,it means that ,american womanhood is blasting its way through the dbris of crumbling moral and religious systems toward freedom4 ,it means that the path is all but clear4 ,it means that woman has but to press on1 more courageously1 more confidently1 with her face set more firmly toward the goal4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,the ,,goal ,what is the goal of woman's upward struggle8 ,is it voluntary motherhood8 ,is it general freedom8 ,or is it the birth of a new race8 ,for freedom is not fruitless1 but prolific of higher things4 ,being the most sacred aspect of woman's freedom1 voluntary motherhood is motherhood in its highest and holiest form4 ,it is motherhood unchained--motherhood ready to obey its own urge to remake the world4 ,voluntary motherhood implies a new morality--a vigorous1 constructive1 liberated morality4 ,that morality will1 first of all1 prevent the submergence of womanhood into motherhood4 ,it will set its face against the conversion of women into mechanical maternity and toward the creation of a new race4 ,woman's rle has been that of an incubator and little more4 ,she has given birth to an incubated race4 ,she has given to her children what little she was permitted to give1 but of herself1 of her personality1 almost nothing4 ,in the mass1 she has brought forth quantity1 not quality4 ,the requirement of a male dominated civilization has been numbers4 ,she has met that requirement4 ,it is the essential function of voluntary motherhood to choose its own mate1 to determine the time of childbearing and to regulate strictly the number of offspring4 ,natural affection upon her part1 instead of selection dictated by social or economic advantage1 will give her a better fatherhood for her children4 ,the exercise of her right to decide how many children she will have and when she shall have them will procure for her the time necessary to the development of other faculties than that of reproduction4 ,she will give play to her tastes1 her talents and her ambitions4 ,she will become a full-rounded human being4 ,thus and only thus will woman be able to transmit to her offspring those qualities which make for a greater race4 ,the importance of developing these qualities in the mothers for transmission to the children is apparent when we recall certain well-established principles of biology4 ,in all of the animal species below the human1 motherhood has a clearly discernible superiority over fatherhood4 ,it is the first pulse of organic life4 ,fatherhood is the fertilizing element4 ,its development1 compared to that of the mother cell1 is comparatively new4 ,likewise1 its influence upon the progeny is comparatively small4 ,there are weighty authorities who assert that through the female alone comes those modifications of form1 capacity and ability which constitute evolutionary progress4 ,it was the mothers who first developed cunning in chase1 ingenuity in escaping enemies1 skill in obtaining food1 and adaptability4 ,it was they also who attained unfailing discretion in leadership1 adaptation to environment and boldness in attack4 ,when the animal kingdom as a whole is surveyed1 these stand out as distinctly feminine traits4 ,they stand out also as the characteristics by which the progress of species is measured4 ,why is all this true of the lower species yet not true of human beings8 ,the secret is revealed by one significant fact--the female's functions in these animal species are not limited to motherhood alone4 ,every organ and faculty is fully employed and perfected4 ,through the development of the individual mother1 better and higher types of animals are produced and carried forward4 ,in a word1 natural law makes the female the expression and the conveyor of racial efficiency4 ,birth control itself1 often denounced as a violation of natural law1 is nothing more or less than the facilitation of the process of weeding out the unfit1 of preventing the birth of defectives or of those who will become defectives4 ,so1 in compliance with nature's working plan1 we must permit womanhood its full development before we can expect of it efficient motherhood4 ,if we are to make racial progress1 this development of womanhood must precede motherhood in every individual woman4 ,then and then only can the mother cease to be an incubator and be a mother indeed4 ,then only can she transmit to her sons and daughters the qualities which make strong individuals and1 collectively1 a strong race4 ,voluntary motherhood also implies the right of marriage without maternity4 ,two utterly different functions are developed in the two relationships4 ,in order to give the mate relationship its full and free play1 it is necessary that no woman should be a mother against her will4 ,there are other reasons1 of course--reasons more frequently emphasized--but the reason just mentioned should never be overlooked4 ,it is as important to the race as to the woman1 for through it is developed that high love impulse which1 conveyed to the child1 attunes and perfects its being4 ,marriage1 quite aside from parentage1 also gives two people invaluable experience4 ,when parentage follows in its proper time1 it is a better parentage because of the mutual adjustment and development--because of the knowledge thus gained4 ,few couples are fitted to understand the sacred mystery of child life until they have solved some of the problems arising out of their own love lives4 ,maternal love1 which usually follows upon a happy1 satisfying mate love1 becomes a strong and urgent craving4 ,it then exists for two powerful1 creative functions4 ,first1 for its own sake1 and then for the sake of further enriching the conjugal relationship4 ,it is from such soil that the new life should spring4 ,it is the inherent right of the new life to have its inception in such physical ground1 in such spiritual atmosphere4 ,the child thus born is indeed a flower of love and tremendous joy4 ,it has within it the seeds of courage and of power4 ,this child will have the greatest strength to surmount hardships1 to withstand tyrannies1 to set still higher the mark of human achievement4 ,shall we pause here to speak again of the rights of womanhood1 in itself and of itself1 to be absolutely free8 ,we have talked of this right so much in these pages1 only to learn that in the end1 a free womanhood turns of its own desire to a free and happy motherhood1 a motherhood which does not submerge the woman1 but which is enriched because she is unsubmerged4 ,when we voice1 then1 the necessity of setting the feminine spirit utterly and absolutely free1 thought turns naturally not to rights of the woman1 nor indeed of the mother1 but to the rights of the child--of all children in the world4 ,for this is the miracle of free womanhood1 that in its freedom it becomes the race mother and opens its heart in fruitful affection for humanity4 ,how narrow1 how pitifully puny has become motherhood in its chains6 ,the modern motherhood enfolds one or two adoring children of its own blood1 and cherishes1 protects and loves them4 ,it does not reach out to all children4 ,when motherhood is a high privilege1 not a sordid1 slavish requirement1 it will encircle all4 ,its deep1 passionate intensity will overflow the limits of blood relationship4 ,its beauty will shine upon all1 for its beauty is of the soul1 whose power of enfoldment is unbounded4 ,when motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning1 not the result of ignorance or accident1 its children will become the foundation of a new race4 ,there will be no killing of babies in the womb by abortion1 nor through neglect in foundling homes1 nor will there be infanticide4 ,neither will children die by inches in mills and factories4 ,no man will dare to break a child's life upon the wheel of toil4 ,voluntary motherhood will not be passive1 resigned1 or weak4 ,out of its craving will come forth a fierceness of love for its fruits that will make such men as remain unawakened stand aghast at its fury when offended4 ,the tigress is less terrible in defense of her offspring than will be the human mother4 ,the daughters of such women will not be given over to injustice and to prostitution2 the sons will not perish in industry nor upon the battle field4 ,nor could they meet these all too common fates if an undaunted motherhood were there to defend4 ,childhood and youth will be too valuable in the eyes of society to waste them in the murderous mills of blind greed and hate4 ,this is the dawn4 ,womanhood shakes off its bondage4 ,it asserts its right to be free4 ,in its freedom1 its thoughts turn to the race4 ,like begets like4 ,we gather perfect fruit from perfect trees4 ,the race is but the amplification of its mother body1 the multiplication of flesh habitations--beautified and perfected for souls akin to the mother soul4 ,the relentless efforts of reactionary authority to suppress the message of birth control and of voluntary motherhood are futile4 ,the powers of reaction cannot now prevent the feminine spirit from breaking its bonds4 ,when the last fetter falls the evils that have resulted from the suppression of woman's will to freedom will pass4 ,child slavery1 prostitution1 feeblemindedness1 physical deterioration1 hunger1 oppression and war will disappear from the earth4 ,in their subjection women have not been brave enough1 strong enough1 pure enough to bring forth great sons and daughters4 ,abused soil brings forth stunted growths4 ,an abused motherhood has brought forth a low order of humanity4 ,great beings come forth at the call of high desire4 ,fearless motherhood goes out in love and passion for justice to all mankind4 ,it brings forth fruits after its own kind4 ,when the womb becomes fruitful through the desire of an aspiring love1 another ,newton will come forth to unlock further the secrets of the earth and the stars4 ,there will come a ,plato who will be understood1 a ,socrates who will drink no hemlock1 and a ,jesus who will not die upon the cross4 ,these and the race that is to be in ,america await upon a motherhood that is to be sacred because it is free4