Such is probably the
fact, also, in many other states, for the so-called "obscenity" laws
are modelled more or less, after the same pattern.
One of the chief results of the Brownsville clinic was that of
establishing for physicians a right which they neglected to establish
for themselves, but which they are bound, in the very nature of
things, to exercise to an increasing degree. Similar tests by women in
other states would doubtless establish the right elsewhere in America.
We know of some thirty-five arrests of women and men who have dared
entrenched prejudice and the law to further the cause of birth
control. The persistent work in behalf of the movement, attended as it
was by danger of fines and jail sentences, seemed to puzzle the
authorities. Sometimes they dismissed the arrested persons, sometimes
they fined them, sometimes they imprisoned them. But the protests went
on, and through these self-sacrifices, word of the movement went
constantly to more and more people.
Each of these arrests brought added publicity. Each became a center of
local agitation. Each brought a part of the public, at least, face to
face with the issue between the women of America and this barbarous
law.
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