‘Women Should Have Children Instead of Poodles’—When Birth Control Came to Washington
The idea of birth control entered the national conversation in 1919, when an artist, activist, and single mother named Mary Ware Dennett brought the (quite shocking!) idea to Congress.
It’s almost 2025, and still the push and pull over women’s reproductive rights continues. With Donald Trump primed and ready to begin his second presidential term on Jan. 20, 2025, many are worried that even contraception may come under fire.
It’s a debate that’s not quite as old as time, but it sure has been around a while.
The idea of birth control entered the national conversation in 1919, when an artist, activist, and single mother named Mary Ware Dennett brought the (quite shocking!) idea to Congress. Suddenly, elected leaders found themselves weighing reproductive rights for the first time.
Dennett’s is not a glamorous story, indeed it’s not even much of a success story, but it’s a story that illustrates poignantly how activism works. It explains why Congress has struggled to shake its twofold legacies of patriarchy and eugenics, and provides insight into the historical tensions shaping one of America’s most divisive social issues. As debates over birth control rights reach fever pitch in the U.S., it’s worth taking a look back at how it all began.
