Debate on birth control. Margaret Sanger and Winter Russell — John Shaqi
Debate on birth control. Margaret Sanger and Winter RussellSanger, Margaret
History
Debate on birth control. Margaret Sanger and Winter Russell
Sanger, Margaret
Birth control -- Moral and ethical aspects
When we talk about race suicide it seems to me that there are other
things that one must consider. Birth control will improve the quality of
the race, and unless we do improve the quality of the race, it is better
that we do have race suicide. (Applause.) Certainly all of us who have
lived within the past five years and have seen what has gone on in the
world—we have seen the destruction of life—we have seen it so
mercilessly taken—certainly, there are other ways that race suicide is
being put out upon the world other than birth control. War certainly has
done something to wipe out the inhabitants of the earth. And if you go
to Europe where I have been the last six months or so and see the
condition of misery and unhappiness that is going on there, particularly
in Central Europe, you would say that death would be a blessing to these
people, instead of the hand of peace that has come to them. When I saw
more than 15,000 little children in Germany that were born since the
war, friends, brought into being in the most terrible conditions that
any country could be in—those children were brought to birth because
they, too, did not believe in birth control. They believe in numbers, in
expansion, in more and more children, and today, those hundreds and
hundreds of children have no backbone. They are almost unable to hold up
their heads. They will be absolutely useless for another generation. Are
these the kind of children we want to bring into the world? Don’t we
want quality instead of quantity?
It seems to me it is time we used our intelligence and stopped the
ranting phrases that we have been hearing so many of today. (Applause.)
Again I say, Mr. Russell tells us that he was quite sick when he heard
me tell about women who had tuberculosis and heart disease and other
ailments, and should have been prevented from becoming pregnant. He said
the man who did not have self-control was not worth much. I wonder if
Mr. Russell knows—he is a lawyer, and I wonder if he knows what the laws
of this state are as far as you men are concerned. The Bible states
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands.” It is one of the things
put into our laws, and the woman who does not submit to her husband—he
does not have to support her. I wonder if Mr. Russell knows that. I have
myself had cases where women have come to me and said: “What shall I do?
I have left this man. I can’t have more children.” And when she comes to
court the judge has said: “Are you willing to live with this man or
not?” And she said: “I can’t have more children. I don’t want more
children.” And the judge said: “You must adjust this matter for
yourselves.” The man did not have to support her unless she submitted
her body to him. That is the condition today.
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