The excerpts contained in this chapter are typical of the letters
which come to me by the thousands. They tell their own story,
simply--sometimes ungrammatically and illiterately, but nevertheless
irresistibly. It is the story of slow murder of the helpless by a
society that shields itself behind ancient, inhuman moral creeds--which
dares to weigh those dead creeds against the agony of the living
who pray for the "mercy of death."
Can a mother who would "rather die" than bear more children serve
society by bearing still others? Can children carried through nine
months of dread and unspeakable mental anguish and born into an
atmosphere of fear and anger, to grow up uneducated and in want, be a
benefit to the world? Here is what the mother says:
"I have read in the paper about you and am very interested in Birth
Control I am a mother of four living children and one dead the oldest
10 and baby 22 months old. I am very nervous and sickly after my
children. I would like you to advise me what to do to prevent from
having any more as I would rather die than have another. I am keeping
away from my husband as much as I can, but it causes quarrels and
almost separation. All my babies have had marasmus in the first year
of their lives and I almost lost my baby last summer.
Pages:
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78