Address at Women's Arts and Industries Exposition

,September 28, 1933

Address of M.S., at Women's Arts and Industries Exposition, HotelAstor

It is ever a source of feminine pride and satisfaction to witness the rapid strides madeby women in the arts, industries, sciences and professions during the past decade.

Woman has had an age-long struggle to free herself from the superstitions and dogmas ofthe Dark Ages in order to prove her ability and to compete with man in the affairs ofthe world.

Nature has not been altogether kind to woman, in that she has not distributed equallythe biological task of child-bearing. In this in equality we find the greatest handicapthat woman has had to overcome in order to develop her talents and to express herindividuality. A few of them have dared and challenged and defied the laws and canonsand moved forward toward their emancipation; but in the main the larger number of womenhave been and still are conscripted to the task of child-bearing.

It was President Roosevelt who had thecourage, foresight and vision to raise his voice on behalf of the forgotten man, and isit not time for the enlightened women of this country to raise a voice in unison onbehalf of the most forgotten of all living creatures, the overburdened child-bearingwoman?

Why not a new deal for the 43 million women of child-bearing age in this country whosefuture life, liberty and pursuit of happiness depend absolutely upon the knowledge ofhow to control the physiological function of motherhood?

We ask a “new deal” for the mother immortalized in poetry but (neglected)forgotten in fact--

A New Deal for the mother whose life is shadowed by constant fears of unwantedpregnancies--a New Deal for the mother who goes down into the valley of the shadow ofdeath for every baby born--

A new consideration for the women who appeal for contraceptive knowledge to hospitals,clinics, and(social)agencies, and are denied this by priest and politician alike.

The solidarity of woman is as noble as the brotherhood of man and the opportunity ishere today for all of us whose lives have been benefited by such knowledge to pass thatright and privilege on to the underprivileged woman who is too poor, too weak, tooinarticulate to battle for her own rights.

There is now pending in Congress a Bill which,if passed, will automatically open the way to thousands of hospitals, dispensaries andpublic health agencies throughout the country, and will make it possible for thesepoor,troubled, anxious mothers to go to these institutions for medical help and toreceive the proper medical advice suitable to their individual needs. Today suchknowledge is refused them because of our Federal laws which were passed by Congress justsixty years ago.

The passage of this Bill will give the poor mother the right that the well-to-do motherhas had for the past generation. It will enable her to obtain special scientificknowledge through the source of the medical profession, and this is the wisest andsafest way to obtain it.

Congressmen will listen to this appeal when sufficient numbers of men and women maketheir voices heard. We learn on all sides from women coming to us to seek advice andthat relief agencies in this and other cities are advising women who appeal to them foraid that they should get themselves in a condition of pregnancy in order to obtainimmediate and substantial relief.

What kind of justice and vision is this--when already millions of men are unemployed andother millions dependent upon them for life and maintenance?--

What sort of vision is this to encourage the birth of children at this time of uncertainty--at this time whenwe know that millions are born into homes so wretched that not only are their bodiesdenied proper nourishment but many of them can never grasp a perception of life’sbeauty, nor will they ever be able to participate in the moral or spiritual activitiesof our civilization.

In fact, I should say it was the patriotic duty of men and women to refrain frombringing children into this complex and confused age until there is a new codeestablished by the Federal Government which will insure for every child born theheritage of a sound body and a sound mind.

When this is done, we can indeed know that we are on the road to permanent recovery, andthen indeed shall woman take the first step toward the goal of a real emancipation.