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In the late nineteenth century, the Comstock Act of 1873 made the distribution of contraception illegal and classified contraception as an obscenity. Reflecting the predominant attitude towards contraception at the time, the Comstock Act was the first federal anti-obscenity law

In the late nineteenth century, the Comstock Act of 1873 made the distribution of contraception illegal and classified contraception as an obscenity. Reflecting the predominant attitude towards contraception at the time, the Comstock Act was the first federal anti-obscenity law that targeted contraception. However, social acceptance of birth control changed at the turn of the twentieth century. In this thesis, I analyzed legislation, advocates, and literature pertinent to that social change to report on the events leading up to the decriminalization of contraception.



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Details

Title
  • Thesis: Dismantling Legal Constraints to Contraception in the 1900s
Date Created
2021-01-27
Keywords
  • Comstock Act of 1873
  • People
  • Legal
  • Mary Dennett
  • Margaret Sanger
  • Birth control advocates
  • History of societal views on contraception
  • Essays and Theses
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