Marie Stopes

• Attitude of the Authorities:

  In the years 1906-8, parliament concerned itself with the welfare of children. What it didn't do was pass legislation enabling people to have access to information about birth control, due to opposition from the Anglian and Catholic Churches. Maternity and child welfare clinics weren't allowed to give advice on birth control, even when a mother's life could be at risk. In 1922, Elizabeth Daniels, a nurse, was dismissed for giving birth control advice.
• Evidence showed that the number of children in a working class family kept its health poor. Families of 12 to 14 children were not uncommon, with women giving birth year on year. With limited incomes, it became increasingly difficult for them to properly provide for their families.
• Middle and upper class families tended to have fewer children than working-class families, most probably due to them being about to afford private clinics, where advice on contraception could be obtained.

  Whereas, for poorer families, the traditional methods of birth control had to used, such as coitus interruptus (the withdrawal method) or induced abortion. Coitus interruptus meant women had to trust their husbands, although there were some methods women could use without their husband's knowledge, such as: extended breast feeding and establishing a safe period in a woman's cycle.
• For many women finding themselves pregnant against their will, abortion was a last result. It remained illegal until 1967 unless carried out for medical reasons.
• There was a clear demand for information. Cheap women's magazines carried advice about contraceptives in sections headed discreetly. All kinds of contraceptive appliances could also be bought from visiting speakers who gave 'women only' lectures.
• Married Love:

  In 1913, as Stopes was divorcing her first husband for a claimed unconsummated marriage, she began wiring a book about the ways she thought marriage should work. Strongly opposed to abortion, she believed the size of a family should be limited by effective contraception. The book also included explicit descriptions on what married women should expect from sexual relationships. This led to publishers refusing to handle her manuscript, believing it to be too controversial.
• Married Love:

  The philanthropist Humphrey Verdon Roe (who became Stope's second husband) published her book, Married Love, at his own expense. It was an immediate success, selling over 2000 copies in the first fortnight and over 400000 copies by 1924.
• Although, Married Love was aimed at the middle class, and was her second book Wise Parenthood: A Book for Married People, which focused exclusively on contraception, she condensed Wise Parenthood into a 16 page booklet, aimed at the working class poor and distributed free of charge.
• The First Birth Control Clinic:

  After publishing her book, Stopes met a massive public demand for birth control advice and attracted correspondence from hundreds of women and some men asking for further advice.

  Stopes and her husband opened a Mother's Clinic in Holloway, north London, in March 1921. This free clinic was run by midwives and supported by visiting doctors, not only giving face-to-face contraceptive advice, but also teaching mothers how to use different methods of contraception.
• In 1925, the clinic moved to a more central position close to Tottenham, Court Road. She also gradually built up a network of clinics across Britain and by 1939, there were clinics in Leeds and Aberdeen (1924), Belfast (1936) and Cardiff (1937).
• In 1922, a Dr Halliday Sutherland, secretary of the League of National Life (an anti-contraception group of mainly Catholics), wrote Birth Control: A Statement of Christian Doctrine Against the Neo Malthusians. In this, he was critical of Stopes and her work, and he made defamatory attacks which could be considered libellous, leading to her suing him for libel. At the end of the trail, the jury found in favour of Stopes, but the judge disagreed. Although the Court of Appeals reversed the judge's opinion, the House of Lords reversed it back. The trial caused her clinic's clients to double.
• The medical profession was divided by Stope's work. In 1917, Humphrey Roe offered to endow a birth control clinic in St Mary's Hospital, Manchester. His offer was declined, even though he proposed that all patients should be married and that no abortions would be carried out. Some did support Stopes, such as the medical officer for Leicester, who was a strong believer in birth control and Dr George Jones, of the West End Hospital for Women (London), who believed that birth control was more important in the case of unmarried women.
• The Catholic Church and Anglian clergy also opposed Stopes. In 1920, Stopes addressed the Lambeth Conference (a meeting of Anglican bishops) saying that sexual intercourse was not only for the procreation of children, but also for giving and receiving of pleasure by husband and wife. Her message was received in silence.