Birth Control Laws And The Sex Side of Life
Mary Ware Dennett
- 28 september 2025
- 9781465572301
Samenvatting:
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. The book is presented to American citizens in the hope that it may be a useful service. It makes no pretense at literature and it is not propaganda. It is not a legal brief nor a piece of academic research. It simply talks over the subject in an untechnical fashion, from the human standpoint, with the idea that most thinking, well-meaning people want our laws to represent common sense, justice and practicability; and that they want them to harmonize with our heritage of American ideals of freedom and self-government. Although informal in its presentation, every effort has been made to include only statements for which there is authority from original sources. The main points are given in the body of the book, and the appendices give detail and authorities, for the use of those who are interested to check up and be more thorough in their consideration. The first part of the book explains just what our present laws provide, and how they happened to be the way they are. The second part analyzes the various propositions that have been made for changing the laws, and the reasons offered by their advocates. The third part makes an effort to show the basis on which to differentiate between sound and spurious legislation, and the tests by which it may be determined what the people really want, underneath their upper layer of careless acquiescence, inhibition or inertia. If the author did not have an abiding faith in the fundamental sound sense, good intentions and latent ideality of the average American citizen, this book would not have been written.