The Case for Birth Control: A Supplementary Brief and Statement of FactsSanger, Margaret
Science
The Case for Birth Control: A Supplementary Brief and Statement of Facts
Sanger, Margaret
Birth control; Eugenics
Fetal mortality exceeds that of any other period of life. For every four
or five labors there is one abortion, and if to this number is added
still-births the proportion of fetal deaths to living births is larger.
P. 332.
_THE DISEASES OF SOCIETY AND DEGENERACY. G. F. Lydston, M.D._
That a multiplicity of children in poverty-stricken families often
impels to abortion, is evident. The necessary evils of our prohibitive
laws and ethics bearing upon illegitimacy, are obvious; viz:
First, and worst, is infanticide, committed usually before, but only too
often after birth. In the latter category I would place abandoned
children who die of exposure or starvation, and the bulk of mortalities
in foundling asylums and for baby farms. The social ostracism placed
upon the mother is a prime factor in this child’s murder. Condemnation
and shame are hers if she allows nature to take its course, and the
penalty of infanticide stares her in the face if she interferes with the
conception. A rarely anomalous state of affairs this.
Second—The brand of infamy placed upon the unborn child, from which only
its murder can save it.
Third—The prostitution or suicide of the woman who is found out.
Branded with ignominy from the moment of conception, a burden to
society, and a still greater burden to its parent, or parents from the
moment of its birth, with no systematic endeavor on the part of society
to prevent its growing up a criminal, a drunkard, a pauper, a
prostitute, or a physical wreck, what wonder that many a poor woman’s
fingers become too tightly entwined around her offspring’s neck. If her
motive for the act were always as altruistic as its consequences, so far
as the child’s welfare is concerned, there are some clear-minded
thinkers in the world who could not be brought to judge her harshly. P.
371.
The rights of the unborn will one day be considered. Until they are so
considered, and practical efforts made to secure them, we cannot hope
for much improvement in the prevention of degeneracy. P. 559.
_AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DISEASES OF CHILDREN, November 1914. Vol. 8, pp.
327–335. Question of Hereditary syphilis as a social problem._
Of all deaths of infants in St. Louis in 1913, 1,070 were illegitimate.
Of all deaths in infants due to syphilis 1,550 were illegitimate.
_AUGUST FOREL. The Sexual Question. A Scientific, Psychological,
Hygienic and Sociological Study. Translated by C. F. Marshall,
M.D., F.R.C.S., Late Assistant Surgeon to the Hospital for
Diseases of the Skin. London._
The stigma of shame which has branded all illegitimate maternity
unfortunately justifies the many cases of abortion, and even
infanticide. Things ought to change in this respect, and in the future
no pregnancy ought to be a source of shame for any healthy woman
whatever, nor furnish the least motive for dissimulation. P. 411.
_THE SMALL FAMILY SYSTEM. C. V. Drysdale, D.Sc._
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