Marie Stopes
by Radiyah Shakur
Marie Carmichael Stopes was the leading advocate of birth control in the 20th Century and opened the UK’s first family planning clinic on 17 March 1921.
 In an era when sex was for reproduction and not pleasure, and many women were clueless to the functioning of their own organs because sexual education did not exist, Stopes offered something truly revolutionary. The free clinic provided services to married women, which Stopes saw as important on various levels. Stopes held the opinion that married couples should be able to enjoy sexual interaction without the risk of pregnancy. She also thought that sex education could help reduce the birthrate among women, considered by some to be a plight that was keeping families poor.
In March 1918 Marie published Married Love, a book that made her famous and sold over 2,000 copies in two weeks. In it she expressed her views on feminism and marriage. It was difficult for Stopes to find a publisher, being turned away several times because of the content of her book. The Roman Catholic Church in England opposed the book, and even the United States declared the book obscene and banned it.
Her second book Wise Parenthood was about contraception, and was inspired by her meeting with American birth-control campaigner Margaret Sanger. Marie Stopes' book upset the leaders of the Church of England who believed it was wrong to advocate the use of birth control. Roman Catholics were especially angry, as the Pope had made it clear that he condemned all forms of contraception. Despite the opposition, Marie continued her campaign and in 1921 founded the Society for Constructive Birth Control. With financial help from her wealthy second husband, Humphrey Roe, Marie also opened the first of her birth-control clinics in Holloway, North London on 17th March 1921.In 1930 the National Birth Control Council was formed.
Marie Stopes also campaigned for several other causes during her life, including an attempt to stop education authorities from firing married women teachers, and the implementation of policies inspired by eugenics. She also became involved in the battle to persuade the Inland Revenue to tax husbands and wives separately. Throughout the following decade she published many booklets and pamphlets on the subject of birth control and parenting.
Marie Stopes died in 1958. Her legacy continues to live on through the Marie Stopes International Global Partnership. Today there is an international network of organizations in 39 countries that provide sexual and reproductive health information to over 4.3 million people worldwide.
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