TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book. BIRTH CONTROL LAWS SHALL WE KEEP THEM CHANGE THEM OR ABOLISH THEM BY MARY WARE DENNETT _One of the Founders of the National Birth Control League, Formerly Director of the Voluntary Parenthood League, Author of “The Sex Side of Life”_ [Illustration] FREDERICK H. HITCHCOCK The Grafton Press NEW YORK MCMXXVI Copyright, 1926 By MARY WARE DENNETT INTRODUCTION The scope of this book does not include any general discussion of the merits of birth control, or its sociological and racial ramifications. That has been amply undertaken in recent years by many able people; and the birth rate in all high-grade communities and groups clearly indicates that the subject, per se, is not now to any extent a moot question. Birth control is not an if. It is an actuality. But what does need further discussion and thinking through to a sound conclusion is the question as to whether laws affecting birth control are necessary in the United States, and if so, just what the provisions of those laws should be. We have laws on the subject already, and have had them,—the same ones,—for over fifty years. They are increasingly unenforced, and are generally acknowledged to be unenforceable. But it is not wise to wait their slow and complete dissolution from disuse, because the diseased and dying body of these laws creates a most unsanitary morale in this fair land of ours. The question is shall they be done away with altogether, or shall they be modified, and if so, how? This is a matter which potentially affects every family in the country. The theory of laws in a democracy is that they reflect the wishes of the people. This book therefore raises the question as to what they really want, and tries to answer it, or at least to give to the public in condensed and convenient form the facts on which an answer may be based. In this field at present, there is much muddled reasoning, much jumping at conclusions, much substituting of emotion for thought, and much general assumption that reformers who agitate for birth control must necessarily also be wise law-makers on the subject. To help clarify public thought, and to help crystallize public responsibility as to the legislation which is inevitably a part of the birth control question so long as the present statutes remain on the books, is the aim of this volume.