BIRTH CONTROL REVIEW

VOL 11, N o 5 Publashed by the Amencan Birth Control League F EBRUARY, 1935

T H I S Issue of the R EVIEW brmgs

~ t readers
s news of the Fourteenth
Annual Meetmg of the League, held
Resolution
unantmously adopted at the Fourteenth Annual Mcettng
of the Amenan Brrth Control League
In Ch~cagoon January 16th and 17th,
a brief account of the New York
WHEREAS t h e cost of publrc relref rn t h e U S IS n o w
o v e r 125 m ~ l h o ndollars a m o n t h , a n d
luncheon and plans for the New Year
T h e annual meetlng, the first ever W H E R E A S , s c ~ e n t ~ fresearch
ic has s h o w n t h a t f a m l r e s o n re-
held away from New York, may well hef h a v e a b o u t 50% m o r e chrldren t h a n s r m ~ l a rfamdres n o t
be a m~le-stoneIn the progress of the o n relref, a n d
movement Members and officers of WHEREAS these c h d d r e n add t o t h e b u r d e n s b o t h of therr
the Illlno~sB ~ r t hControl League and a l r e a d y over-burdened parents, a n d of t h e taxpayers
seven other state leagues, officers, T H E R E F O R E , be rt resolved t h a t t h e Amerrcan Brrth C o n-
d~rectorsand three staff members of trol League unrte w ~ t ht h e A m e n c a n Eugenics S o c ~ e t yrn for-
the Nat~onalLeague met w ~ t hpress m u l a t ~ n ga n d securrng t h e a d o p t ~ o nof t h e m o s t effectrve plans
and publ~cIn a two day conference as f o r provrdmg t h a t as a m a t t e r of routrne, all famrhes o n relref
pract~callyuseful as ~t was lnsplrlng shall b e m f o r m e d where they m a y best o b t a m m e d ~ c a ladvrce
I n place of a formal Annual Report rn a strrctly legal fashron as t o t h e l ~ m ~ t a t r oof n famlres b y
the League presents t h ~ sIssue of the m e t h o d s rn accordance w t h t h e n r e l r g ~ o u sconvrctrons
R EVIEW, feel~ng that the excerpts
from s~eeches.the summanes of re-
ports and round tables wdl gwe a clear plcture of our M R S F R A N C E S N B A N G S , preszdent of the Amer-
work, wlll show some of the problems w h ~ c hconfront rcan Bzrth Control League and M r s Benyamin Car-
us and the work w h ~ c hmust be done In 1935 penter, preszdent of the Illrnou League welcomed the
T o carry on thls work the League needs $49,865 assembled delegates M r s Bangs, who prended at the
Elsewhere In t h ~ sIssue w ~ l lbe found a statement of openrng meetrng surd
expend~turesfor 1934 T h ~ syear, ~f we are to meet In 1933 a quarter of a m ~ l l ~ obab~es n were born to
the demands made for our services, we must Increase poor mothers llving on rel~ef,and figures for 1934 ln-
our field work and med~calwork, and w ~ d e nour gen- d~catethat the number w ~ l be l even greater W ~ t ht h ~ s
eral educat~onalwork by lssulng more l~terature,bet- sltuatlon, our work takes on a new aspect and our
terlng the ~nformat~onservlce and developmg both greatest alm for 1935 1s to make sc~ent~fic blrth control
local and nat~onalp u b l l c ~ t ~ adv~ceava~lableto these mothers T h l s can only be pos-
A d r ~ v efor funds IS now under way, w ~ t hvolunteers s~ble~f every state league does rts share
worklng from a street floor shop a t 701 F ~ f t hAvenue,
(55th Street) New York C ~ t yT h ~ shop,s w h ~ c hhas T h e m a t e d presented at thrc and subsequent meet-
been donated, w ~ l lserve as headquarters and as an mgs was so full and vaned that a complete chronologtcal
educat~onalcentre, conven~entlylocated, where anyone account cannot be attempted T h e medzcal educatronal,
may get mformat~onabout clin~cs,doctors, books, the field and admrnzstratzve work of the Natronal League
was descrrbed and state league reports were gzven T h e
movement In general Pam p hlets and books, REVIEWS,
charts and s t r ~ k ~ nposters
g des~gned by Marguer~te resolutzon quoted above was adopted
Schwarzman of Teachers College, are on d~splay All I t was also adopted by the larger group whrch at-
are welcome and group meettngs and speakers are tended the luncheon meetrng on the second day P R O -
scheduled for several days each week V l s ~ tthe shop, F E S S O R P A U L D O U G L A S , Unrvernty of Chrcago,
~t w ~ l be
l open every day from ten to SIX for the entlre presrded and rntroduced MRS F R O B E R T S O N J O N E S
month of February Help the League, money 1s needed She s a d rn part
and volunteers In order that we may reach as w ~ d ea A survey of b ~ r t hcontrol durmg the depress~on
publlc as poss~ble shows a paradox~calstate of affa~rs T h e means of
f a m ~ l yl ~ m ~ t a t ~have
o n apparently been w ~ t h easy
~ n reach
of everyone, and yet hundreds of thousands of women
have glven b ~ r t hto unwanted babtes, and hundreds of
thousands more have been able to a v o ~ dthat tragedy
only by resortmg to abort~on
T h ~ statement
s IS no exaggeration T h e country has
been flooded w ~ t hcontraceptlve mater~als Over three
hundred firms are engaged In t h e ~ rmanufacture T h e
pres~dentof one of these firms testdied In court that
lts output ran to over twenty mdhon a year T h e y are
sold In every town and vdlage-~n drug stores, by ped
dlars, by slot machmes, by mad Anyone can buy them
anywhere And accordmg to the advert~sements,they
are mfall~ble Then, bes~desthese commerc~alcontra-
ceptlves, there 1s a free for all method, d ~ r e c t ~ o nfor s
w h ~ c hRoman C a t h o l ~ cleaders have broadcast durmg
1934, In an Inexpenswe form, so that (as they explam)
'"~t m ~ g h tbe access~ble t o all people to whom the
regulat~onof blrths IS a problem "
W ~ t hthe Roman C a t h o l ~ cChurch and the manu
facturers of contraceptwe suppl~esboth so mdustr~ously
d ~ s s e m m a t l nknowledge
~ of b ~ r t hcontrol methods and
matertals, the tragedy of the unwanted chdd should
surely be a thmg of the past, one would thmk, every
woman should be able to a v o ~ dundestred pregnancy
But nothmg could be further from the truth As every
rel~efworker knows to h ~ sdespa~r,unwanted ch~ldren
have been arrlvlng t h ~ c kand fast In the homes of the
unemployed T h e census of the Federal Emergency
Rehef A d m ~ n ~ s t r a t ~reports
on that over a quarter of a
m ~ l l ~ obab~es
n were born Into f a m h e s on rel~efIn one
year Other mvestlgators tell the same t r a g ~ cstory of
unwanted ch~ldren addmg to the burden of already
overburdened parents
Even more traglc than the h ~ g hb m h rate among
the poor has been the prevalence of abort~on N o t w ~ t h -
standmg the apparent a v a ~ l a b ~ l ~oft yb ~ r t hcontrol ~ n -
format~on,vast numbers of poor mothers are unable
to a v o ~ dpregnancy M a n y of them In desperat~onhave
recourse to c r ~ m ~ n aand l dangerous operattons to ter-
mlnate ~t T h e most conservatlve estlmate 1s one abor-
tlon to every four b ~ r t h s O n e med~cal a u t h o r ~ t y
estimates that In 1933 the number of abort~on~n t h ~ s
country reached the staggering figure of four mtll~ons
W h a t accounts for t h ~ sextraordlnarv mconslstency
-b~rth control mformat~onand b ~ r t hcontrol materials
everywhere ava~lable, but hundreds of thousands of
poor women unable to a v o ~ ddreaded d~sastrouspreg
nancy? T h e blrth control mformat~onand the b m h
control mater~alsthat are generally avadable are un
rel~abl-those that are rehable are not generally a v a ~ l -
able to the women who need them most, the very poor
T h e method that 1s rel~able and pract~cable for
women of the underpr~vdegedclass cannot be bought
at the drug store, or learned from prmted d ~ r e c t ~ o n s
I t must be adapted to the md~vtdualby a p h y s ~ c ~ aand n
~ t use
s must be carefully taught her B u t unfortunately
lnstructlon In t h ~ method
s 1s even now avadable to only
a mlnorlty of the women of the destitute classes I n 18
states there IS as yet no b ~ r t hcontrol cllntcal servlce
whatever, In the other states the servlce 1s totally made
quate I n most hosp~talsand d~spensar~es where the c ~ t y
poor get them med~caladv~ce,no contraceptlve mforma
tlon is glven, the rank and file of doctors whom the
country poor depend upon have no knowledge of sclen-
t ~ f i cb ~ r t hcontrol T h e soc~alagency w h ~ c hrefers ~ t s
"cltents" t o the avadable c l ~ n ~ cISs the exception
T h e unrel~able drug store b ~ r t hcontrol and the
~mpracttcable"rhythm" b ~ r t hcontrol the poor can get
In plenty, dependable, sc~ent~fic, med~callyg u ~ d e db ~ r t h
control IS out of t h e ~ rreach So the f a m ~ l ~ eons rehef
are growlng larger year by year, t h e ~ rmlsery IS In-
creasmg and rel~efcharges are c l m b m g Into the b ~ l l ~ o n s
T h ~ IS s the deplorable sltuatton we face
H o w much longer w d l the A m e r r a n people let t h ~ s
state of affa~rsgo o n ? T h e y could eas~lyput an end
to ~ t~f, they would T h e mother of every f a m ~ l yon rel~ef
wants rel~ablebtrth control adv~ce-let us see that
she gets ~t
T h t s IS ent~relypract~cable All that 1s needed 1s that
there shall be more doctors who can teach the best
method of b ~ r t hcontrol, more cl~ntcsIn w h ~ c hthey may
teach ~t to the poor, and more soc~alworkers who w ~ l l
tell the poor of t h ~ shelp that 1s avadable for them
T h e p u b l ~ c1s wakmg up to the cruelty and waste-
fulness of keepmg rehable b ~ r t hcontrol mformatlon
from those who need ~t most Now IS the tlme to put
an end to a pol~cythat IS a d~sgraceto our c ~ v ~ l t z a t ~ o n
N o w IS the tlme for b ~ r t hcontrol leagues, n a t ~ o n a and
l
state, to jom forces to see that every woman on rel~ef
can get de p endable b ~ r t hcontrol advtce
R E V C U RT I S W R E E S E , Dean of the Abraham
Lzncoln Centre, spoke on the Church and Bzrth Control
Whatever else r e l ~ g ~ omay n teach today, lt teaches
that human progress IS dependent on human lnltlatlve
and human direct~on Rellglon todav regards man as
able rat~onallyand sc~ent~fically to control h~mself,h ~ s
world, the world of energy, and the world of values for
the s a t ~ s f a c t ~ oofn huwan destres, and In proper pro
portlons ~t glor~fiesthese des~resT h e new understand
Ing of r e l ~ g ~ obn~ d sman to make hlmself and hrs world
what he w d l , to reorganwe h ~ mpulses
s and h ~ ~deology
s
and h ~ ssoc~allnstltutlons In the l ~ g h tof h ~ sever ln
creaslng ach~evements,to control h ~ soc~al s customs matron and that p r o h ~ b ~thet s sale of contraceptwe de-
I n accordance w ~ t ht h ~ strend, the a t t ~ t u d eof thevices should be repealed, and m new laws, b ~ r t hcon-

church toward the whole problem of sex IS changmg trol ~ n f o r m a t ~ oand

n dev~cesshould be subject only to
R e l ~ g ~ o1sn becom~ngactwely Interested In the erotlc such control as IS exerc~sedfor example by the pure food
l ~ f where
e for ages the grossest Ignorance and credul~ty, laws In t h e ~ rfield
superstltlon and tyranny have held sway I n the place 2 Health and Soc~alServ~cedepartments of the clty,
now occup~ed by such Ignorance and credul~ty,such the state and the natlon should be spec~ficallycharged
superstltlon and tyranny, the Church today w ~ l lhelp w ~ t hthe duty of d ~ s s e m ~ n a t ~full
n g and a u t h o r ~ t a t ~ v e
you Install knowledge and enl~ghtenedvlrtue mformat~onon the subject of optlonal parenthood, and
T o o often In the past sex hfe has been thought of as also of malntalnlng Inexpenswe clln~cseasy of access
largely an e v ~ lto be tolerated for the purpose of 3 Sclentlfic research should be cont~nueduntll the
propagatlon But as the church came to terms w ~ t h present unsat~sfactory and clumsy methods of blrth
sclence In other fields, ~tslowly cap~tulatedIn the field control are supplanted by sure, easy and sat~sfactory
of sex Here the church IS no longer wlll~ngfor nature means, and also untd the day when ~t IS poss~blefor
to be uncontrolled by ~ntell~gence and sc~entlfictech- all, as ~t IS now poss~blefor some, to ach~evea des~red
nlques I n recent years the followmg church orgamza- blrth pamlessly and glor~ouslyInstead of as a t present In
tlon have gone on record In support of b ~ r t hcontrol agony and sorrow
Comm~tteeon M a r r ~ a g eand the Home of the Fed- 4 And perhaps most Important of all, the mmd of
eral Counc~lof the Churches of C h r ~ s In t Amer~ca the publ~cmust be so educated that sex and all that
Lambeth Conference of Blshops of the Church of pertalns thereto can be thought and spoken of wlth
England the frankness that now preva~lsIn the fields of d~etetlcs
General Counc~lof Congregational and C h r ~ s t ~ a nand esthet~cs,or of eth~csand religion
Churches
Un~versal~st General G n v e n t ~ o n P R O FE SSO R H E N R Y P R A T T F A IR C HI LD , presz-
T h e Amencan U n ~ t a n a nAssoc~at~on dent of the Populatzon Assonatzon of Amerrca, drs-
Central Conference of Amencan Rabbrs cussed Bzrth Control rn the N e w D a y
N e w York East Conference and other reg~onalsec- Population control IS a fundamental law of l ~ f eIt IS
tions of the Method~stEpiscopal Church exerc~sedby nature all along the h e , from the lowest
Special Comm~tteeof the Women's Problems Group specles to the h~ghest Nature controls populatlon
of the Ph~ladelph~a Yearly Meetmg of F r ~ e n d s through the death rate, and among the sub-human
T h e 1934 Convent~onof the Y W C A specles, malntalns a statlonary populatlon by m a k ~ n g
T h e Rhythm theory now making such r a p ~ dheadway the death rate equal the b ~ r t hrate M a n cannot escape
among Catholm, w h ~ l enot a sat~sfactorymethod of control, but may subst~tuteblrth control for death con-
btrth control, IS nevertheless a d~stmctmove In the dmec trol W e can subst~tutethe human way for the natural
tlon of a modern a t t ~ t u d eon the matter, for ~f sex hfe way W e can control our numbers by fores~ght,know1
1s eth~calapart from propagatlon, then lnslstence on edge, and the findmgs of sclence, Instead of by deaths,
natural as d ~ s t ~ n g u ~ s hfrom
e d other sclent~ficmethods part~cularlya great number of Infant deaths
IS an untenable posltlon and w ~ l undoubtedly
l be aban- T h u s far the blrth control movement has concerned
doned In favor of techn~questhat offer greater safety Itself ch~eflyw ~ t hl l m ~ t ~ nthe g slze of the famlly There
than can the "safe p e r ~ o d " are two types of drawbacks to unduly large famhes
T h e major cultural, eth~cal,and r e l ~ g ~ o us~gn~ficance
s T h e first IS the personal or famlly object~on,based upon
of b ~ r t hcontrol IS that ~t puts the realm of sex on the the d~fficultyof malntalnlng a h ~ g hstandard of llvlng
s ~ d eof zntelhgence, control and human sat~sfact~ons and provldmg for the welfare of all the members ~f
T h e bas~cimportance of b ~ r t hcontrol IS not prlmarlly the fam~lyIS too large T h e second 1s the soc~aldanger
In ~ t semphas~s on the small fam~lysystem-lmpor- of an undue Increase of the populatlon a t large, w ~ t h
tant as t h ~ s1s-but In ~ t spnncrple of rntellzgent con- ~ t accompanylng
s menace of fam~ne,dlsease, war, and
trol of hfe processes a low standard of llv~ng
Important steps of a more pract~calnature must st111 T h e blrth control movement, whlch n des~gnedto
be taken. and In these the church can render valuable place the slze of the famlly under the d ~ r e c t ~ oofn rea
aslstance Among these steps are the followmg son and mtell~gence,meets both these objections W l t h ~ n
1 Every sectlon of mun~c~pal, state and nat~onallaw the last few decades thls movement has spread so rapid-
that p r o h ~ b ~the
t s d~ssemlnatlonof b ~ r t hcontrol Infor- ly that the danger of over grown populations ~n western
socletles IS rap~dlyd ~ m ~ n ~ s h~f~~tn has g not already d ~ s T h e G r e e n w ~ c hMaternal Health Center prov~des
appeared T h e need for the mtell~gentregulat~onof the clmcal servlce just over the h e In Portchester, N Y
s u e of the ~ n d l v ~ d u faal m ~ l ypersists, and wlll doubtless Delaware T w o adv~sorygroups are bemg developed
be permanent I n t h ~ sfield, therefore, b ~ r t hcontrol an Advlsory Board made up of prominent W ~ l m ~ n g
w d l be a contlnulng requlrement But we must go ton physlc~ans,and a Councll of representatlvrs from
further
varlous welfare organlzatlons T h e organ~zatlonsIn
T h e movement must be prepared to meet the future clude Delaware C o m m ~ s s ~ ofor n the Feeble Mmded,
W e must teach people how to have as well as how Delaware C o m m ~ s s ~ ofor n the Blmd, Delaware State
not to have c h ~ l d r e nW e must s t ~ m u l a t eb ~ r t h samong Hosp~tal, Ant1 Tuberculos~s Soc~ety, V i s ~ t ~ nNurse g
the more soc~allydes~rable W ~ t hthe approachmg era Assoc~at~on, State Board of Health T h e report con
of statronary o r even declmng populat~on,~t becomes cludes " W e have dec~dedt h ~ syear to put all our ef
doubly Important that every poss~bleasststance should forts Into publlc~ty, as our C l l n ~ cIS not runnlng at
be glven to f a m h e s of good stock, who want more chd- capaclty and we feel we could bring help to many
dren then they seem able t o have I t IS earnestly to be more women tf they knew of our work W e are gettlng
hoped that ln the ~ m m e d ~ a tfuture e the b ~ r t hcontrol e d ~ t o r ~ a lIns both the W d m m g t o n papers t h ~ sweek,
movement w d l turn ~ t attention s to t h ~ srequlrement, dnd several a r t d e s t h ~ smonth and next W e are hop
and that the cllnlcs w ~ l be l equ~ppedt o glve at least the mg for great thmgs from these "
p r e l ~ m ~ n a rayd v ~ c eand assistance to famll~esthat are
seekmg to escape sterll~tyo r ach~eveh ~ g h e rfertlllty Illznou T h e total number of patlents adv~sedIn the
League cllnlcs IS 22,015 D u r ~ n g1934, 2,206 patients
W e must have b ~ r t hcontrol upward as well as down-
were cared for Of these 643 were unable to pay, and
ward Soc~etyIn the near future, ~f ~t becomes neces
270 were p a ~ dfor by the U n ~ t e dC h a r ~ t ~and
e s the Jew
sary, w ~ l dev~se
l new sanctions and a t t ~ t u d e sto prov~de
lsh Soc~alServ~ceBureau
a s t ~ m u l u st o the b ~ r t hrate among famllles that should
be larger T h e blrth control movement must take the Indiana T h e Maternal Health C l m c In Indlanap-
lead ln t h ~ sconstructwe work o h , opened In December, 1933, malntalns servlce for
m d ~ g e n t women w ~ t htwo or more llvmg ch~ldren
State by state the accounts of clznrcs founded groups P a t ~ e n t sare sent by soc~alagencies, mlnlsters and phy
organreed and plans for 1935, make rnspznng readmg slclans and one of the large m d u s t r ~ a lplants Four
Arkansas T h e L ~ t t l eRock C l l n s , organ~zed~n 1931 large cltles In the state are makmg plans for s l m ~ l a r
t o serve ~ n d ~ g e women,nt took care of 277 cases durmg clln~cs T h e next project of the League w ~ l lbe ex
the past year T h e present lncomes of the famllles range panslon of the work through connecttons w ~ t h~ n d u s t r ~ a l
from n o t h ~ n gt o $31 00 per month and the majorlty plants T h e governmg board of twenty-three Includes
SIX phys~c~ans, a minister, a r a b b ~ ,a lawyer, a professor
report lncomes below $5 00 per week F ~ f t ythree per
cent of the famll~esare on rellef rolls Of the remaln- and a member of the state leg~slature
der, the majorlty of the wage earners are only w o r k ~ n g Iowa T h e l n l t ~ aobjectwe
l of the Des M o ~ n e sgroup,
part tlme T h e c l m c IS staffed ent~relyby volunteers the openlng of a cllnlc, has been accompl~shed T h e
c l m c IS financed through membersh~pdues, and special
Connectrcut A central office has been establ~shedln
c o n t r ~ b u t ~ o nfrom
s f r ~ e n d sand from the N a t ~ o n a lcom-
Hartford w ~ t ah full tlme secretary C o u n t ~ e and s towns
mlttee on Maternal Health A membersh~pcampalgn
are bemg organ~zedfor b ~ r t hcontrol servlce and ln
to broaden the work 1s planned for sprlng
support of the leg~slatwecampalgn now bemg conduct-
ed to change the restrlctlve Connect~cut l a w T h ~ s Kentucky T h e c l m c In Loulsv~llereports 9 9 per
law states that "Every person w h o shall use any drug, cent success w ~ t h~ t ps a t ~ e n t s About half are able to
m e d ~ c ~ n a rl t ~ c l eo r lnstrument for the purpose of pre- pay a small fee, and half are accepted free because they
venting conception shall be fined not less than fifty are on rel~ef T h e servlces of an executlve secretary
dollars or lmpr~sonednot less than s ~ x t ydays nor more are sadly needed for extenslon work through the state,
than one year, or be both fined and lmpr~soned"T h e but at present funds d o not perrnlt t h ~ s
proposed amendment would add the followmg "Pro- Marne T h e c l ~ n ~lnc Portland opened In February,
v ~ d e dthat thrs sectlon shall not apply to any m a r r ~ e d 1933, and has had, t o date, 185 patlents F w e of the
person uslng such drug, medmnal a r t ~ c l eor Instrument older doctors form an executlve committee and five of
under the d ~ r e c t ~ oor n a d v ~ c eof a p h y s ~ c ~ al~censed
n the younger ones glve thew servlces at the c l m c T h e
to practlce ln Connect~cut" fee IS flex~bleand at the dlscret~onof the nurse, $3 be-
mg the maxlmum Three a d d ~ t ~ o n ac l ~ n ~ chave s been many phases to a representative group of cltlzens from
opened In the northern part of the state by D o n s C Mmnesota and ne~ghbor~ng states "
Davidson, R N Mtssourz Three regular clmcs and a night c l ~ n are ~c
Massachusetts T h e League has been c ~ r c u l a t ~ nag funct~onmgin St LOUIS,and a c l ~ n ~has c just opened
Parents Petit~onaskmg the Massachusetts M e d ~ c a lSo- In Kansas C ~ t y" We are assured," the report concludes,
clety to appomt a commlttee "to make an ~ m p a r t ~ a l"that there 1s In St LOUIS an enl~ghtenedpubl~coplnlon,
study and report on the more w~delyknown methods alert to the necessrty for the future use of such c l ~ n ~ c s
of b ~ r t h control mcluding that set forth In the In furthermg the happmess, present and future of those
'Rhythm' " I t was also been enlargmg ~ t med~cal
s fac111 who need them and In recognizing them as a lme of
tles and, In a d d ~ t ~ oton runnmg the Mothers' Health defense, a bulwark agalnst the ever lncreasmg load of
Office In Boston, ~t has secured the cooperation of four- publicly supported dependents "
teen phys~c~ans In other parts of the state T h e Massa- N e w Jersey Nme thousand patlents have been cared
chusetts Federat~onof Women's Clubs has mcluded for at the Maternal Health Center In Newark, smce
b ~ r t hcontrol on ~ t study
s l~st ~t opened In May, 1929 Four other centers are func
Michzgan M ~ c h ~ g ahas c s eleven tlonlng In Plamfield, Morr~stown,Trenton and Engle
n th~rteenc l ~ n ~ and
c ~ t ycommittees T h e M ~ c h ~ g aFederat~on
n of Women's wood T h e state is now organ~zedon the county plan,
Clubs endorsed the study of b ~ r t hcontrol and the League "whereby each county 1s set up as an mdependent u n ~ t ,
held a sesslon on b ~ r t hcontrol at the State Conference h a v ~ n gfull representation on the State Board Each
of Soc~alW o r k There IS lncreaslng Interest from county ralses ~ t own s funds In the manner deemed most
F E R A workers and the State Department of Health su~tableby ~ t officers s I n countles where there are local
S ~ x t yphys~c~ansserve as cl~nic~ans or care for patlents c l ~ n ~ c ten
s , per cent of all funds collected w ~ l gol to
In them prlvate offices, and 496 other phys~c~ans support support the state work Where there are no local clmcs
the work w ~ t h ~the
n county boundaries, ~t 1s expected that the
Mznnesota A report on the M ~ n n e a p o l ~c sl m c and greater per cent of funds collected w d l go to the
organmations In St Paul, Rochester, and Duluth was state league for state w o r k "
followed by a statement of extenslon plans for the com New Y o r k T h e followmg ten countles are already
mg year "I Extens~onof our M e d ~ c a Adv~sory l Board organwed Albany, Duchess, Kmgs, Monroe, Nassau
and the securmg of phys~c~ans qual~fiedto teach the and Suffolk In a jomt commlttee, New York and Bronx
techn~queIn as many countles In the state as poss~ble In a jomt commlttee, Onondaga, and Queens E r ~ and e
"I1 Extens~onof our program to every community Westchester w ~ l l
complete then organlzatlon shortl y
In the state w h ~ c hhas a populat~on of 10,000-and T h e League has 87 cooperatmg phys~c~ans throughout
here may I say that I belleve extenslon can be best the state to whom ~t refers women who cannot be cared
accompl~shedby a combmat~onof profess~onaland lay for a t c l ~ n ~ cExtens~on s of county organwatlons and
actlvlty W e get much further w ~ t hthe first, but we enl~stmentof more phys~c~ans are the major Items In the
must have the latter to help create publ~copmon and program for 1935
lend p u b l ~ cbackmg, w ~ t h o u tw h ~ c hthe profess~onal Pennsylvania T h e League's twenty c l ~ n ~have c s cared
group cannot proceed successfully for 4,000 new patients In 1934 O n e thousand question-
"111 Extens~onIn the field of publ~ceducat~on,In- nalres were sen- out to doctors a11 over the State, and
cludmg the contmued approach to c ~ t ygroups, and also from the 200 repl~esa doctors' file of very useful pro-
the attempt to reach as many state groups as w d l permlt portions was budt up " W e have very cons~stentlyrun
the t o p ~ cof b ~ r t hcontrol to be mcluded m them pro our c l ~ n ~wc s~ t hthe help of volunteers," the report reads
gram " One of the P h ~ l a d e l p h ~cal ~ n ~ c sm, a Y W C A , 1s
"IV Extens~onIn the domam of publ~crel~ef,tryrng ent~relyso staffed, w ~ t hthe exception of the phys~c~an,
to have b ~ r t hcontrol In theory and In practlce approved and as they average SIX to seven new patlents a sesslon,
by those admm~stermgpubl~crel~effunds five volunteers are kept busy Inc~dentally,the net cost
"V D~rectmg,under the gu~danceof the Nat~onal per new patlent a t t h ~ sc l ~ n ~1sc twelve and one-half
League, the extenslon work In the ne~ghbormgstates cents O u r experience shows us that we cannot say
w h ~ c hhave not yet organ~zedleagues enough about the value of volunteer servlce In the
"VI P l a n n ~ n ga fall conference w h ~ c hIn ~ t scope s c l ~ n m"
and ~ t attendance
s may present a s t ~ m u l a t ~ nplcture
g of T h e League 1s contactmg labor unlons In an effort to
the need and p o s s ~ b ~ l ~oft ~ be ~s r t hcontrol In some of ~ t s have b ~ r t hcontrol presented to the Board of the Penn-
sylvanla Federat~onof Labor T h e support of the State the communlty I n t h ~ slast group, clergymen form a
Federat~onof Pennsylvan~aWomen has been secured valuable element for our purposes, slnce they lncreas
"Our emphas~supon the Importance of stlmulatmg and mgly real~zethe lmportance of contraceptlve knowledge
provokmg l~terature"the report concludes "remalns un- ~n the manta1 adjustment problems among them par~sh
changed W e contlnue to mall to a carefully compded loners
1st of 8,000 (contr~butorsto the Welfare Campa~gn, Frequently the welfare group composed of soc~al
s , ) facts and
members of the boards of all c h a r ~ t ~ e etc workers and publ~chealth nurses form a good first ap
figures on taxes, prlvate charlt~es,abort~on,etc " proach They perhaps best know the need, they are the
Rhode Island All five counties of the state are or ones who know and wlll refer the patlents and they
gan~zedand committees carry on clln~caland educa also know the soaally mmded people In the communlty,
t~onalwork Motor corps brmg patlents to the clrn~cIn both med~cal and lay Emally, they are almost always
act~velyInterested Inc~dentally, ~t 1s encouraglng to
Prov~denceA second clinic 1s about to open ln New-
find widespread Interest among publ~c rel~ef agents
port Under the dlrect~onof an executive secretary em-
ployed for four months, twenty five meetlngs were held both on a local and state w ~ d ebas~s
and 700 people were contacted A thousand letters were M e d ~ c a lcooperatlon IS of first Importance slnce con-
sent to mmsters, doctors and clubs traceptlon 1s essent~allya med~calmatter O n e often
finds however, that though nearly all competent ob-
South Dakota T h e League's first c l m c was opened stetrlclans and gynecolog~stsare glvlng contraceptlve
ln SIOUXFalls, on January 9th Plans call for an ex- adv~ceto t h e ~ own r patlents, they may hes~tateto openly
tension of the work throughout the state by organlzlng
sponsor a plan for a clln~cor an organlzatlon T h e
auxll~arygroups ln such cmes and centers where the essent~alconservatism of the med~calprofess~onIS, of
populat~on and needs just~fy the establ~shment of course, proverbla1 and a tralt of cons~derablemerlt in
those dealmg w ~ t hmatters of l ~ f eand death T h ~ con s
D R R A C H E L L E S Y A R R O S , D R E R I C M servatlsm, however, often slows up the organlzatlon of a
M A T S N E R and , D R M 0 B O U S F I E L Daddressed b ~ r t hcontrol branch or cllnlc, as tt 1s unwlse to start
the Wednesday evenzng meetrng at the Colored Y M work w ~ t h o u tthe r ~ g h tcllnlc~anand adequate med~cal
C A D R C A R L G R O B E R T S prended backmg Frequently ~t 1s only necessary to prove that
publ~coplnlon ln the communlty 1s back of the move-
Freld work has been c m n e d on rn the South by
ment ln order to secure med~calcooperatlon
R U T H T O P P I N G for the past seven months She has
I t 1s not difficult In any communlty to find Interested
rntervrewed doctors, nurses, health officers, clergymen
cltlzens who w ~ l contr~bute
l and become members of a
and socral workers has held meetrngs and arranged for
sponsoring commlttee or league, but to find some one
clrnrcal servrce zn twelve towns D O R I S C DAVID-
w ~ t ht m e , courage and q u a l ~ t ~ eofs leadersh~pto act
S O N , whose work m establrshzng three clrnrcs tn Maine
as chamman 1s usually the ch~efobstacle one encounters
was descrrbed rn the REVIEW, rs n o w rn Yrrgrnta work-
Havmg found t h ~ cha~rman,
s even a temporary one, the
mg wrth local groups to establzsh clrnrcs R U T H
job of the field worker 1s largely accompl~shed,because
H U L T O N , executzve secretary o f the Mrnnesota
no plece of work In any communlty can be soundly
League and field secretary for the Natronal Lea g ue,
done except by the people llving there
gave the followmg provocatme report
U n t ~ the
l b ~ r t hcontrol movement 1s so well accepted
T h e first d~scoverysurprlslng to the new field work-
that publlc cllnlcs gwe contraceptlve adv~cejust as
er was tnat one does not need to sell the Idea or prove
they glve any other adv~ceconcernmg maternal health,
the lmportance of b ~ r t hcontrol anywhere Unless ~ n -
d r e l ~ g ~ o uprejudice,
h ~ b ~ t eby s lntelllgent thmkmg peo- a voluntary group of cltlzens must furn~shthe financ~al
ple already know the arguments, are convinced of them and moral backmg, In other words the motor power for
Importance, and are w~lllngto help T h e difficulty as b ~ r t hcontrol ln each communlty I t IS a very great help
m any other type of organlzatlon work 1s to find leader- to the field worker ln a new terrltory ~fsmall groups can
sh~p meet together for d~scuss~onAt first groups of from
There are of course, ch~efly three groups ln each 5 to 20 people are much better than larger ones, slnce
communlty that must cooperate ~n any sound plan to free dtscuss~on1s easler to secure ~n t h ~ way s O n e hour
secure contraceptlve adv~cefor the women who need ~ t , or two a t such a meetlng w ~ l laccompl~shas much as
but cannot pay for ~t These are the med~calprofess~on, whole days of seekmg ~ n d l v ~ d u amtervlews, l though
the welfare agencies, and the publlc spmted cltlzens of these are necessary also
 So far the procedure as outlmed IS probably slm~lar large as ~n 1929, ln 1934 they doubled the 1933 figure
to that of any other field worker In thls part~culartype Rel~efhas become a domlnant part of puhl~cfinance
of actlvlty T h e chref difference ln our plan of work T h e resources of prtvate ph~lanthropy have been ex-
IS that paradox~callyenough we do our best field work hausted and the Federal government IS evadmg the In
at home T h e terntory for w h ~ c hwe are respons~ble ev~tablelssue by jugglmg figures or by golng Into the
IS small enough so there are always Interested people ~n red T h e rel~efproblem has come to the polnt where we
Mmneapol~swho know key people m the terrltory to must cease to be governed by bel~efsand emotlons and
be entered A letter from a Board Member to an in- must face the sltuatlon ln an ~ntell~gent, and sc~entlfic
fluentla1 fr~endIn another communlty does more t o help way
find a chamman than anythlng the field worker can do Stud~esmade ~n d~fferentparts of the country In
An ~ntroduct~on to a doctor by a doctor from one's own d~catethat among famll~eswhich have been on rel~ef
med~caladv~sorygroup wlns a courteous reception even for more than a year, the b ~ r t hrate IS about 60 per cent
from an overworked, overtired practltloner hlgher than among famlhes of equal soc~alstatus not
on rel~ef Yet our leaders are, apparently, unw~llrngto
A sesszon on Bm-th Control zn Rural Communztzes,
meet t h ~ squestion, or to permlt these famll~eslegally
under the chazrmanshzp o f M R S L O U I S D E B
to cons~der~t
M O O R E , took up many problems of clznzc procedure,
Soc~alworkers all emphas~zethe breakdown of morale
and extensron Among the topics drscussed were
among people on rel~ef Cons~derthe sltuatlon of seven
Follow-up work, soc~al worker versus nurse for mlll~onchlldren under the age of slxteen, and a quarter
c l m c executive, phys~c~an versus nurse for check up of a mrll~onof bab~esln famll~eson rel~ef T h e lssue
exammatlon, fees, use of volunteers, how long must a
should be put up to the people, just as p r o h ~ b ~ t ~was
on
patlent attend the clln~cbefore bemg classed a success-
People have the r g h t to dec~defor themselves whether
ful case, should safe per~odlnstructlon be glven at clm
and when they want to have ch~ldren
ICS on request, why IS Amer~cabehmd England ln b ~ r t h
I deplore the lmpresslon glven by many opponents
control work, how can the communlty best be told about
of blrth control that those ~n favor of ~t are necessar~ly
the existence of a cllnlc, IS the propaganda phase of the
rrrellg~ous Rellglon IS a matter of values, and surely
movement over?
human hfe 1s too fine, too sacred a thrng ever to be
A tour of Chrcago cbnrcs w a s among the most zn- brought lnto the world except as the voluntary act of
teresting of the actzvrtzes Startrng at the Illrnozs wholly respons~blepeople T h l s IS the spmtual founda
Leagues officeand clmzc at 203 N o r t h Wabash Street t ~ o nof b ~ r t hcontrol
a bus-load of 35 delegates vzszted the Lrncoln Centre,
M A R G U E R I T E B E N S O N ,executzve dzrector of the
Chzcago's oldest clznrc and the clznzc at famous H u l l
League, gave a revzew of the hzghlrghts of the past
House
year and a brief summary o f the Chzcago meetzng T e l l -
O f far reachzng szgnzficance was the speczal Physzczans m g of the League's needs and urgzng support of the
Conference whzch closed the meetzng on Thursda y eve drzve for funds she concluded
nzng Emznent members o f the profesnon partmpated, So we stand, w ~ t ha record of accompl~shmenton
both as speakers and audzence, and clear recognztron was what IS financially a shoestrmg W e are on the threshold
gzven of the place of bzrth control m medzcal practzce of tomorrow T h e vls~onof that tomorrow IS provoca-
Excerpts from some of the addresses wrll appear in the tlve and lnsplrlng W h a t must we do?
March R EVIEW W e must treble the field work, double the medlcal
NEW YORK MEETING education, meet the demand for l~terature,and last
Januar y actrvrtzes closed wtth a luncheon m N e w but not least, answer the pathetlc pleas for asslstance
Y o r k on January 24 D R I R A S W I L E preszded, whlch now come, not only from harassed and despond
and L O U I S K A N S P A C H E R
spoke on W o m e n D o w n ent parents, but from prlvate and government rel~ef
the Ages agencles
W e are more or less Imbued w ~ t hthe Idea that soc~:'
P R O F E SS O R J A M E S H S B OSSARD , speakzng on servlce has gone beyond the stage of emot~orral~smW e
Bzrth Control and the Depresnon Izsted the mazn argu- are supposed to be qulte d~spass~onateT h e evolution
ments for bzrth control as he sees them of the movement for b ~ r t hcontrol has brought us to
O u r rel~efexpenditures have Increased ln geometric the polnt where we are perhaps a l ~ t t l etoo academe,
ratlo each year slnce 1929 I n 1930 they were twlce as too techn~cal But I find ~t d~fficultto be d~spasslonate
w h ~ l ereadmg the dally ma11 H e r e 1s a letter from a A t a specla1 meetmg of the Board of D~rectors,held
farmer's w ~ f eIn Idaho She wrltes In penal on a grey~sh on January 17th, the followmg officers were elected for
ruled tablet such as chddren use In grade school I n a 1935, M r s F Robertson Jones, honorary pres~dent,
s ~ m p l estra~ghtforwardmanner she tells her story-SIX M r s F r a n c ~ sN Bangs, pres~dent,M r s LOUIS de B
ch~ldrenIn nme years-mc~dentally two l m l e graves Moore, C h a ~ r m a nof the Execut~veC o m m ~ t t e e ,M r s
Q u ~ t e r ~ g h t l yshe feels that her duty 1s done, her Leww L Delafield, first vlce pres~dent, M r s Freder~ck
strength has been sapped Can we help her? Then, and G A t k m o n , M r s R ~ c h a r d B~lltngs, M r s Dexter
bear In mmd that t h ~ sIS only one of hundreds of such Blagden, M r s Benjamm Carpenter and Clarence J
cases, w e look up our l ~ s of t doctors and w e wrlte her Gamble, M D , vlce pres~dents,M r s F r e d e r ~ cCrom
that the nearest p h y s ~ c ~ aton whom w e can refer her IS well, treasurer, and M r s John de W ~ t Peltz, t secretary
160 mdes away Can one be calm and cool In the face
SUMMARYO F F INANCI AL R EPORT
of hundreds of cases l ~ k et h ~ s ?
I N C O M E 1934 1933 1932
A n earnest, clear-thmkmg pastor In a small town In State League Contrlbutlons $ 1,032 01 $ 1 130 17 $ 1 070 09
upper W ~ s c o n s mhas canvassed the SIX local phys~c~ans Other Contrlbutlons 27 820 89 15,149 60 22 242 55
to find out ~f he may refer prwate pattents to them H e Membershrps 3 594 55 4,658 35 5,587 55
recelves e ~ t h e ra refusal or complete md~fference H e Sprlng keat~val 429 30
wrltes to us askmg for help W e send htm our l ~ t e r a - M~scellaneous - - -
122 22

ture, show our Interest, and moral support, and tell h m $32 447 45 $21 489 64 $28 900 19
that finances prevent our domg any more though we E X P E N S E S

should l ~ k eto Salar~es $ 6,812 70 $ 7,376 00 $ 9 669 66

Office Expenses 5 927 08 3,846 15 4 541 50
N o w the up shot of all t h ~ s1s the old story, w e need held Work 7 942 31 3 709 28 7 201 09
money W e are askmg $16,000 more for our annual Educatronal Work 9 722 58 5 984 57 6,886 98
budget than w e asked last year T o that end w e begm Miscellaneous 478 88 1,205 43 1,423 46
our annual appeal next week for $49,000 T h ~ sI as- - - -
$30 883 55 $22 121 43 $29 722 69
sure you 1s the mlnlmum on w h ~ c hw e can accompl~sh
work that s m p l y must be done M a y I remmd you that Margaret Sanger reports for the N a t ~ o n a Comm~ttee
l
a $2 00 membersh~pw ~ l ltake care of two c l ~ n ~pa- c on Federal Legtslat~onfor B ~ r t hControl that the Fed
t ~ e n t e t h a means
t that two care worn mothers w d l be era1 B ~ r t hControl Blll has been re mtroduced In both
taught to space thew children for the health and well the Senate and the House by Senator Hastmgs and
bemg of the entlre f a m ~ l yI t may mean the prevention Congressman P ~ e r c e T h e B ~ l numbers l are S 600 and
of a dmupted famdy, ~t may mean that three happy H R 2000
youngsters shall not be depr~ved of them mother's P e t ~ t ~ o naddressed
s to Pres~dent Roosevelt, urglng
care T h a t seems a great deal for $2 00 to accompl~sh the passage of the bllls, are betng c~rculatedand 1,000,-
If you can m u l t ~ p l ythat $2 0 0 m e m b e r s h ~ ~t
~ takes 000 stgnatures are sought P e t ~ t t o n smay be obtamed
o n from M r s Sanger at 1343 H Street, N W , Washmg-
l ~ t t l elmaglnatlon to est~mate the m u l t ~ p l ~ c a t ~of
benefits t o be der~ved ton, D C , o r from the office of the REVIEW

B IRTH C ONTROL R EVIEW See 562, P L fi R

Publwhed monthly by the Amrtcan Bwth C a t r o l League Inc U S POSTAGE
515 MADISON A VENUE, N E W YORK, N Y PAID
N e w York, N Y
VOL 11, NO 5 (New Serles) FEBRUARY, 1935 P E R M I T N o 8388
Srnl to all members of the Amerrcan Brrih Control Lrague
and affrlraicd State Leaguer

Is t h e r e a b ~ r t hc o n t r o l cllnic In y o u r c o m m u n l -
t y ? If n o t l e t u s h e l p y o u s e c u r e p u b l i c ~ n t e r e s t
a n d m e d ~ c a ls u p p o r t L ~ t e r a t u r ea n d adnce a r e
a v a ~ l a b l e W r ~ t et o u s S t a r t a c l ~ n i ct h ~ sy e a r