Birth control

Birth control, also known as contraception and fertility control, is a method or device used to prevent pregnancy.

There are three classes of people who have always been objectors to any form of birth control, and who have always opposed any measures which would enable parents to have children by choice rather than by chance. These are, first, the war leaders; second, the church leaders; and, third, the leaders in the commercial world who have wanted cheap labor. ~ William Hawley Smith

Birth control is the first important step woman must take toward the goal of her freedom. It is the first step she must take to be man’s equal. It is the first step they must both take toward human emancipation. ~ Margaret Sanger

Arranged alphabetically by author or source:
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z · See also · External links

A

• How a gentleman ... could make a practice, in the very moment of unutterable ecstasy, of withdrawing from the arena, is more than I can conceive.
  • Anonymous, On the Use of Night-Caps (1830s), quoted by Peter Fryer, The Birth Controllers (1965), p. 109; Shirley Green, The Curious History of Contraception (1971), p. 37

B

• Do what you will, and give me delight, but on your life have a care to let no drop reach me.
  • Abbé de Brantôme, The Life of Gallant Ladies, recounting what the noble lady said to her lover; quoted by Rustam J. Mehta, Scientific Curiosities of Sex Life (1912), p. 318

D

• The two great sources of the opposition to Birth Control are found in the purely selfish motives of the religionist who wishes his people kept in ignorance of Birth Control and its methods so that they will beget children and yet more children for the glory of God and the Church, and the capitalistic exploiter of labor who is afraid of a diminution in the cheap labor supply.
  • Lydia Allen DeVilbiss, Birth Control: What is It? (1925), p. 36

• The only remedy against hunger is reasonable birth control.
  • Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Portrait of a Planet (1971)

G

• This New Machine as a sure Defence shall prove,
  And guard the Sex against the Harms of Love.
  • Francis Chute (Joseph Gay), The Petticoat (1716)

H

• I fucked her once, but I minded my pullbacks. I sware I did not get it.
  • John Harrington, denying paternity before a Massachusetts court in 1771; quoted by Lawrence Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500–1800 (1977), p. 417; see also: Bastardy and Its Comparative History (1980), p. 374

I

• The command 'Be fruitful and multiply' was promulgated according to our authorities, when the population of the world consisted of two people.
  • Dean Inge, More Lay Thoughts of a Dream (1931)

J

• The difference between human beings and other species is that only human beings practise birth control.
  • Al-Jahiz, from Kitāb al-Ḥayawān ('The Book of the Animal'), quoted by Lucas Catherine, Islam voor Ongelovigen (Antwerp: EPO, 1997), p. 215; Koenraad Elst, The Demographic Siege (1997), Ch. 4

M

• Contraceptives should be used on every conceivable occasion.
  • Spike Milligan, The Last Goon Show of All (1972)

S

• Birth control is the first important step woman must take toward the goal of her freedom. It is the first step she must take to be man’s equal. It is the first step they must both take toward human emancipation.
  • Margaret Sanger, Women, Morality and Birth Control (1922), p. 3

• "Yes, yes — I know, Doctor," said the patient with a trembling voice, "but," and she hesitated as if it took all of her courage to say it, "what can I do to prevent getting that way again?"
  "Oh, ho!" laughed the doctor good naturedly. "You want your cake while you eat it too, do you? Well, it can't be done... I'll tell you the only sure thing to do. Tell Jake to sleep on the roof!"
  • Margaret Sanger, My Fight for Birth Control (1931)

• There are three classes of people who have always been objectors to any form of birth control, and who have always opposed any measures which would enable parents to have children by choice rather than by chance. These are, first, the war leaders; second, the church leaders; and, third, the leaders in the commercial world who have wanted cheap labor.
  • William Hawley Smith, Children by Chance Or by Choice, and Some Correlated Considerations (1920), p. 260

• “Well, birth control’s easy. The first thing you have to know is that it doesn’t work.”
  “What?”
  “Not consistently. No matter how careful you are, every time you play hide-the-salami with the boys, you’re running the risk of ending up with a belly full of consequences.”
  “But—”
  “Contraceptive spells are never entirely reliable. That’s because their power comes from the Mother, and the Mother wants children. Each cantrip has its loophole, every fetish its flaw. Ultimately, contraception is just a way of luring you into playing her game.”
  “You mean that sooner or later it’s going to fail me?”
  “That’s not what I said. It works well enough for enough of us that the rest will take their chances. But the odds are never going to be as good as you’d like them to be. There are no guarantees.”
  • Michael Swanwick, The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993), Chapter 10

See also

• Fertility
• Birth
• Christian views on birth control
• Islamic views on birth control
• Children