Birth control and the state

The pioneer battles on behalf of Birth Control, as everybody knows, have been fought in this country by Dr Marie Stopes, who has largely borne the brunt of that abuse which is meted out to all popular exponents of ideas that do not harmonize with traditional morality. The fact that Dr Stopes has been criticized, and at times attacked by the medical profession (which until recently refused to acknowledge that the subject of Contraception fell within its sphere) on the grounds that she does not possess a medical degree, and the fact that she has retaliated with vigour――and continues to do so in most of her public utterances, have led to a breach between her and the more orthodox elements of the profession, which to a certain extent, has impeded the realization of her ultimate aim, namely the undertaking by the State of the work she performs on a small scale in her privately-run clinique.

In what follows I have drawn attention to drawbacks attending the dissemination of knowledge of Contraception by General Propaganda. I have done so, however, fully realizing that this propaganda was, in the first instance, necessary to override the barrier of prejudice presented by orthodox morality, and equally realizing that if it had not been for Dr Stopes and her propaganda this book would probably never have been written. In its essential plea that advice on Contraception, now obtainable only at private institutions, be made generally available by the Ministry of Health at the centres under its control, this book is at one with the wider aim expressed by Dr Stopes in the words that commemorate the founding of her first private clinique.

I know that in the past it has proved nearly impossible in a single book to appeal effectively both to the general public, and to the medical profession. Yet I have attempted to do that here. The task has been made perhaps less difficult than usual by the fact that until recently the subject of contraception has been completely ignored by the medical profession, which as a whole seems to remain as uninformed of its wider implication as does the general public. It will be found that the book ends with a practical suggestion taking the form of an appeal to the medical profession.

The substance of the first part of what follows originally appeared as a series of articles in The Saturday Review, to which I am indebted for permission to publish the book in its present form.

C. P. B.

BIRTH CONTROL AND THE STATE

A PLEA AND A FORECAST

Since the War, the subject of Birth Control has been widely discussed, and much has been written about it. By some of its advocates it has been extolled to the point where any criticism, however tentative, is resentfully repudiated. By its enemies it has been represented as a pernicious and unnatural practice leading to the degeneracy and, ultimately, to the extinction of the race. So wholeheartedly felt, and yet so profoundly opposed are these views, that it has been difficult for the average person to find his bearings on any other basis than that of his own sentiment.

It is clear that the implications of Birth Control, or, rather, what is generally, though not logically understood by the term, of the practice of contraception, are far reaching. It profoundly affects the life of the individual; it reacts upon the internal economy of the community; and it has a most important bearing upon the international future of the country wherein it is practised. It is therefore incumbent upon all serious students of contemporary world-problems to realize clearly what is to be said on both sides, and to form thereon, as far as lies in their power, an unbiassed opinion. This obligation weighs especially heavily on medical men since, if the practice is to be tolerated at all, it is by them that it should be administered and controlled.

It is a general survey of this sort that is attempted here. The book will begin with a consideration of the more important arguments that have been advanced on each side. These will then be discussed, and there will follow a conclusion as to the bearing of the practice upon the future of civilization.