Who can disagree with any of these points. They are now universally accepted in all civilised countries.
?4? To control the process of generation, to practice birth control is highly desirable in our modern civilization because it is the inevitable result of advance in civilization (civilization is international). ?5? Reckless abandonment to the impulse of the moment, careless indifference of the morrow, the selfish gratification of individual desire at the expense of probably suffering to others, especially to lives that will come after, this may seem beautiful, moral highly religious to some person, but it is not civilization. All civilization involves an ever increasing forethought of others, even for others who are yet unborn.
?6? The voluntary control of the birth rate is the only available lever for raising the level of our race. It is by means of knowledge of contraception that this can be scientifically done. In classic days, as in the East, the practice of infanticide was the permissible method used for attaining the same family, the interruption of pregnancy was and is still used far too extensively, but it is no longer possible for us to accept these wasteful methods as necessary. We must go farther back, we must control the beginnings of life, we must control conception, we must see that no life is begun that is not wanted, loved and planned for.
?6? This is a better method, it is a more civilized method, for it involves greater forethought, greater control, greater consideration and a finer sense of the value of life.
Today all classes in all countries try to exercise some control in regulating the size of their families. It is only the unfit, the less desirable, who procreate recklessly and without forethought or care. ?But? I have found that even here there is often an attempt to limit the number of offspring usually when it is too late. When proper knowledge of birth control is generally advocated and encouraged among the groups in society, where health and economic consideration is obvious, I believe the birth rate will be reduced where it should be lowest.
Margaret Sanger |
