What one person did the most to undermine American birth control?

As the nineteenth century came to a close, America became more sexually repressed. The one man who came to symbolize this extremism was Anthony Comstock. This man's sole mission in life was to rid America of anything he deemed obscene (Alexia Note: hmmm - sound familiar?). He began his crusade by working with the YMCA to help suppress pornography. This led him to found the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. He had supporters from Congress and a bill he pushed -- the Comstock Act -- was passed in 1873.

The act prohibited the mailing of any materials that were "lewd," "lascivious," "indecent," or "obscene." One big problem was that the law did not define any of these terms and it was left up to the discretion of the overzealous Comstock -- who was appointed Special Postal Agent -- to screen the mail. He could basically open and seize any mail he wanted to. Publishers became afraid to mail any literature that wasn't "sanitized," and removed words or pictures from their material that might offend Comstock. By 1900, over 3,600 people had been arrested, 800,000 obscene pictures had been destroyed, and 98,000 articles on condoms seized thanks to Comstock.

He was particularly opposed to birth control, and really cracked down on the mailing of contraceptives or even information about birth control sent by doctors. Not only did this curtail any type of sex education and the availability of birth control; it also had deadly consequences. At least fifteen suicides were attributed to Comstock's harassments in the first five years after the passage of the Comstock Act. Many more followed during the 37 years of his crusade.

One particular enemy of Comstock was a New York "woman's doctor," Madame Restell, who made her living dispensing birth control and abortifacients. One day in 1878, he showed up at the 67-year-old lady's house and tricked her into selling him an abortifacient for his wife. Not wanting to face prison, she slit her throat.

The ironic thing about Comstock's anti-birth control mania was the fact that his own mother had fourteen children and died young. Rather than seeing his mother as a sufferer from the lack of available birth control, he believed she was a symbol of the fight against it.

It is true.Comstock was a mental and emotional dwarf. He didn't act alone.There was never a shortage of these Victorian nitwits in this country.It seems that now there are more of them than there ever was.

Imagine if someone applied this kind of zeal to making sexy films...

Hahahahhhaa Ha