Latest news with #ComstockActof1873
New York Times
03-04-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Overlooked No More: Katharine McCormick, Force Behind the Birth Control Pill
This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times. Katharine Dexter McCormick, who was born to a life of wealth, which she compounded through marriage, could have sat back and simply enjoyed the many advantages that flowed her way. Instead, she put her considerable fortune — matched by her considerable willfulness — into making life better for women. An activist, philanthropist and benefactor, McCormick used her wealth strategically, most notably to underwrite the basic research that led to the development of the birth control pill in the late 1950s. Before then, contraception in the United States was extremely limited, with bans on diaphragms and condoms. The advent of the pill made it easier for women to plan when and whether to have children, and it fueled the explosive sexual revolution of the 1960s. Today, the pill, despite some side effects, is the most widely used form of reversible contraception in the United States. McCormick's interest in birth control began in the 1910s, when she learned of Margaret Sanger, the feminist leader who had been jailed for opening the nation's first birth control clinic. She shared Sanger's fervent belief that women should be able to chart their own biological destinies. The two met in 1917 and soon hatched an elaborate scheme to smuggle diaphragms into the United States. Diaphragms had been banned under the Comstock Act of 1873, which made it a federal crime to send or deliver through the mail 'obscene, lewd or lascivious' material — including pornography, contraceptives and items used for abortions. (The law, which still prohibits mailing items related to abortions, has received renewed attention since the federal right to abortion was overturned in 2022.) McCormick, who was fluent in French and German, traveled to Europe, where diaphragms were in common use. She had studied biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was able to pose as a scientist in meetings with diaphragm manufacturers. 'She purchased hundreds of the devices and hired local seamstresses to sew them into dresses, evening gowns and coats,' according to a 2011 article in M.I.T. Technology Review. 'Then she had the garments wrapped and packed neatly into trunks for shipment.' She and her steamer trunks made it through customs. If the authorities had stopped her, the article said, they would have found 'nothing but slightly puffy dresses in the possession of a bossy socialite, a woman oozing such self-importance and tipping her porters so grandly that no one suspected a thing.' From 1922 to 1925, McCormick smuggled more than 1,000 diaphragms into Sanger's clinics. After her husband died in 1947, she inherited a considerable amount of money, and she asked Sanger for advice on how to put it to use advancing research into contraception. In 1953, Sanger introduced her to Gregory Goodwin Pincus and Min-Chueh Chang, researchers at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in Massachusetts, who were trying to develop a safe, reliable oral contraceptive. She was excited by their work and provided almost all the funding — $2 million (about $23 million today) — required to develop the pill. She even moved to Worcester to monitor and encourage their research. Pincus's wife, Elizabeth, described McCormick as a warrior: 'Little old woman she was not. She was a grenadier.' The Food and Drug Administration approved the pill for birth control in 1960. Katharine Moore Dexter was born into an affluent, socially activist family on Aug. 27, 1875, in Dexter, Mich., west of Detroit. The town was named for her grandfather, Samuel W. Dexter, who founded it in 1824 and maintained an Underground Railroad stop in his home, where Katharine was born; her great-grandfather, Samuel Dexter, was Treasury secretary under President John Adams. Katharine and her older brother, Samuel T. Dexter, grew up in Chicago. Their mother, Josephine (Moore) Dexter, was a Boston Brahmin who supported women's rights. Their father, Wirt Dexter, was a high-powered lawyer who served as president of the Chicago Bar Association and as a director of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. He also headed the relief committee after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and was a major real estate developer. He died when Katharine was 14. A few years later, her brother died of meningitis while attending Harvard Law School. Those early deaths pointed her toward a career in medicine. She attended M.I.T. and majored in biology, rare achievements for a woman of that era. She arrived with a mind of her own, and successfully challenged a rule that female students had to wear hats at all times, arguing that they posed a fire hazard in the science labs. She graduated in 1904 and planned to attend medical school. But by then, she had started dating the dashing Stanley Robert McCormick, whom she had known in Chicago and who was an heir to an immense fortune built on a mechanical harvesting machine that his father had invented. As a young lawyer, he helped negotiate a merger that made his family a major owner of International Harvester; by 1909, it was the fourth largest industrial company in America, measured in assets. McCormick persuaded Katharine to marry him instead of going to medical school. They wed at her mother's château in Switzerland and settled in Brookline, Mass. But even before they married, he had showed signs of mental instability, and he began experiencing violent, paranoid delusions. He was hospitalized with what was later determined to be schizophrenia, and remained under psychiatric care — mostly at Riven Rock, the McCormick family estate in Montecito, Calif. — until his death. She never divorced him and never remarried. They had no children. Katharine McCormick spent decades mired in personal, medical and legal disputes with her husband's siblings. They battled over his treatment, his guardianship and eventually his estate, as detailed in a 2007 article in Prologue Magazine, a publication of the National Archives. She was his sole beneficiary, inheriting about $40 million ($563 million in today's dollars). Combined with the $10 million (more than $222 million today) she had inherited from her mother, that made her one of the wealthiest women in America. As her husband's illness consumed her personal life, McCormick threw herself into social causes. She contributed financially to the suffrage movement, gave speeches and rose in leadership to become treasurer and vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. After women won the right to vote in 1920, the association evolved into the League of Women Voters; McCormick became its vice president. In 1927, she established the Neuroendocrine Research Foundation at Harvard Medical School, believing that a malfunctioning adrenal gland was responsible for her husband's schizophrenia. She provided funding for two decades and acquired an expertise in endocrinology that later informed her interest in the development of an oral contraceptive. After the F.D.A. approved the pill, McCormick turned her attention to funding the first on-campus residence for women at M.I.T. When she studied there, women had no housing, one of several factors that discouraged them from applying. 'I believe if we can get them properly housed,' she said, 'that the best scientific education in our country will be open to them permanently.' McCormick Hall, named for her husband, opened on the institute's Cambridge campus in 1963. At the time, women made up about 3 percent of the school's undergraduates; today, they make up about 50 percent. By the time she died of a stroke on Dec. 28, 1967, at her home in Boston, McCormick had played a major role in expanding opportunities for women in the 20th century. She was 92. Apart from a short article in The Boston Globe, her death drew little notice. The later obituaries of the birth-control researchers she had supported did not mention her role in their achievement. In her will, she left $5 million to the Planned Parenthood Federation (more than $46 million today) and $1 million to Pincus's laboratories (more than $9 million today). Earlier, she had donated her inherited property in Switzerland to the U.S. government for use by its diplomatic mission in Geneva. She left most of the rest of her estate to M.I.T.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Project 2025 creator is happy beyond his wildest dreams, so your worst nightmares are coming true
I told you so. For months leading up to the 2024 election, I and others sounded the alarm about Project 2025, a far-right blueprint aiming to reshape America into an authoritarian state, and one that is reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's book and the subsequent Hulu series The Handmaid's Tale. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. I also said that Donald Trump was lying through his teeth about not having read or known about Project 2025. If you believed him, you can stop reading here. During the first breathtaking weeks of the second iteration of Trump, I was asked several times about why things were happening so quickly right out of the gate. 'How does he know what he's doing compared to last time,' someone wrote to me. The answer was simple: 'He's just going off the handbook that is Project 2025.' Do you think for a minute that 140 people put together a 900-page manifesto for the sole purpose of sticking it on a shelf somewhere? Do you think for a minute that these 140 people thought they were writing a work of fiction? The very minute that the presidency was called for Trump last November, it was an all-hands-on-deck moment to get him up to speed on what would be his plan of action once he was sworn into office. In an interview with Politico last weekend, Paul Dans, the chief architect of Project 2025, expressed elation over the current administration's adoption of his plan. After facing criticism during the 2024 campaign for the project's radical agenda, Dans was pressured to resign from the Heritage Foundation, where Project 2025 originated. However, he now observes that the Trump administration is implementing policies strikingly similar to those outlined in Project 2025, affirming that the blueprint he helped craft is being realized beyond his 'wildest dreams.' This woefully misguided plan proposed replacing thousands of federal workers with loyalists, restricting access to contraception, instituting a national abortion ban, slashing federal health care programs, and enacting a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives. It's March of 2025, and already the above should sound very familiar to you, because Trump did exactly as he was told and instructed by the makers of Project 2025. The loyalists have been installed — Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and Pete Hegseth, to name a few, The Supreme Court's decision to hear Braidwood v. Becerra, a case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act's mandate for insurers to cover preventive services like contraception without cost-sharing, could threaten access to birth control for millions of Americans. Anti-abortion organizations are working to institute a nationwide ban on abortion ban by skewing the meaning of the Comstock Act of 1873 that criminalizes the mailing or transporting of materials, including contraceptives and items intended for abortion. And H.R. 722, the Life at Concept Act, banning abortion nationwide, was introduced in January. We all know that the recent stopgap spending bill that passed Congress last week calls for deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. And unless you've been living in a cave, you know how the Trump administration has been targeting the LGBTQ+ community, more specifically, trying to wipe transgender people from the fabric of American society. Wonder why alarm bells sounded before last year's November election? Despite warnings, many dismissed these concerns as hyperbolic. Now, as the architect of Project 2025 revels in its implementation, it's clear that our fears were not only justified but are now our stark reality. What is Dane's wildest dream is now our worst nightmare. Since his inauguration, Trump has been on a tear, signing and endorsing a series of policy changes that mirror the proposals in Project 2025. One of the administration's first actions was to freeze the hiring of federal civilian employees, excluding military personnel and positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety. These moves squarely align with the project's goal to overhaul the federal workforce by installing individuals loyal to the administration's agenda. If that isn't enough to prove Trump did indeed know all about Project 2025, he's gone a stop further by appointing several key authors of Project 2025 to prominent positions in his administration, who are effectively facilitating the implementation of the project's conservative agenda. Most prominent — and dangerous — is Russell Vought, a principal contributor to Project 2025, now serves as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. In this role, Vought wields significant influence over federal spending and policy priorities, aligning closely with the project's objectives to reduce government size and expenditure. Then there's Peter Navarro, who is one of the most obnoxious individuals not only in the Trump administration but in the entire world. Navarro wrote the 'trade' section of Project 2025, advocating for higher tariffs on Europe and China. Wonder why our trade partners are disgusted by us? It's because the vomit-inducing Navarro came with this genius idea. In the realm of immigration, Trump late last week invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expedite the deportation of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang,Tren de Aragua. This unprecedented use of a wartime law in peacetime was a key component of Project 2025's vision for national security. The administration has also targeted social policies, particularly those affecting the LGBTQ+ community. Project 2025's agenda includes promoting a "biblically based" definition of family, effectively marginalizing LGBTQ+ couples. Recent actions suggest a concerted effort to divert federal resources toward this narrow interpretation, threatening the rights and recognition of diverse family structures. Furthermore, the administration's "America First" priorities have led to significant shifts in foreign aid and domestic policies. The U.S. Agency for International Development has seen an 83 prercent reduction in its programs, reflecting a retreat from global engagement and support. Domestically, proposals to cut Social Security and other federal benefit programs have emerged, aligning with Project 2025's objective to reduce government involvement in social welfare. There's so much more, but by now you get the point as to why Dans is happy 'beyond his wildest dreams.' And here's the kicker, his 'dream' has only just begun. Remember, Project 2025 is over 900 pages, so theoretically speaking, Trump has only executed the first chapter. Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit to learn more about submission guidelines. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
12 things that used to be illegal for women to know about: Hawaiʻi health
HONOLULU (KHON2) — In 1925, only 100 years ago, there were several healthcare topics and practices that were illegal or highly restricted for women to learn about in the United States. These restrictions reflected the legal norms of the time, as well as the limited access to healthcare and education for women. It was hard fought to be able to gain access to knowledge about our own bodies, one that cannot be taken for granted. did a bit of digging to find out what types of healthcare issues women could be arrested, imprisoned and possibly institutionalized for knowing, or wanting to know. The Comstock Act of 1873 made it illegal to distribute any information about birth control or contraception. This included classes, support groups, books, pamphlets and even contraceptive devices. It was a criminal offense to provide women with knowledge about family planning, and women seeking such information or services were often left without support. While abortion was sometimes legally allowed in the early stages of pregnancy for certain medical reasons, by the late 19th century, most states had passed laws making abortion illegal, particularly after quickening (the first noticeable movements of the fetus). Discussing or obtaining an abortion was illegal; and women were often forced to turn to dangerous, unsafe methods if they sought to terminate a pregnancy. Menstruation was a taboo subject, and women were often not educated about it in any scientific manner. Menstrual health was poorly understood, and there was a lack of formal education for women regarding their own reproductive health. Many women didn't have access to information about menstrual hygiene and health practices. Information about women's sexual health was largely unavailable. Women were rarely informed about the biological aspects of their sexual health, such as sexually transmitted infections, pelvic health and reproductive was little understanding or education about the physical aspects of female sexuality and well-being. The idea of a woman's sexual pleasure was almost entirely ignored. Discussions about female sexuality were considered inappropriate or even immoral, and the notion of sexual pleasure for women was not part of the public discourse. Women were often kept ignorant about the biological and psychological aspects of their sexual desires and needs. For a period of time, women who experienced orgasms were sent to mental institutions since experiencing an orgasm was considered a mental health issue, an unhealthy one. These women were subjected to electroshock therapy and forced sexual encounters to study the 'hysteria' they were experiencing. There was little education or awareness about sexually transmitted infections/diseases (STI/Ds), especially as they affected women. Women were not informed about the risks of contracting sexually linked diseases, such as syphilis or gonorrhea. This was often seen as a shameful issue which made it difficult for women to get the medical help they needed. The medical profession often treated women's reproductive issues as 'hysteria' or psychological problems. As a result, many women were subjected to unnecessary hysterectomies (removal of the uterus), often under the belief that their mental health or behavior problems were caused by sexual or reproductive issues. This practice reflected the limited understanding of women's health at the time, and more often than not were perpetrated again women of color. Women's reproductive health was often neglected or misunderstood. Medical knowledge about various reproductive issues, such as infertility or pelvic diseases, was limited; and women were often given minimal or incorrect medical advice. Many reproductive conditions went undiagnosed, and treatments were often invasive or misguided. Postpartum care and understanding of women's health after childbirth were poorly addressed. Many women had little to no access to information about proper postpartum care. This included breastfeeding, mental health and recovery from childbirth, which contributed to high rates of maternal mortality. It was illegal or highly restricted for women to attend medical school or obtain medical degrees. Even if they did, many women faced enormous societal and professional barriers to practice medicine or gain advanced medical knowledge. This restriction meant that women often had to rely on male physicians who may have been dismissive of their health concerns. Menopause and the changes that come with aging were rarely discussed openly, and there was little to no medical advice or treatment for women experiencing these stages of life. Women were often left without support or guidance about menopause and the physical changes associated with aging. In many cases, women did not have control over their own medical decisions, especially in matters related to reproductive health. They were often not given proper informed consent before undergoing medical treatments, surgeries, experiments or procedures, especially if these involved reproductive organs. These restrictions reflect the broader societal norms of the time, where women had limited access to education, healthcare and the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies. The fight for women's rights, including access to healthcare, has continued for the many, many decades since …. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
8 things to know about the Comstock Act, impacts on Hawaiʻi
HONOLULU (KHON2) — We've been hearing a lot about the Comstock Act lately, but there hasn't been much discussion on the details and what that will mean for Hawaiʻi. So, did a bit of digging to find out what exactly the Comstock Act is and how it can impact laws already in place in Hawaʻi things to know about the Comstock Act; How it can impact Hawaiʻi. The Comstock Act of 1873 played a significant role in restricting women's access to sex-related information and services in the United States. (By sex, we mean female.) The Act was named after its sponsor, Anthony Comstock. It was a federal law that made it illegal to send or distribute 'obscene' materials via the mail. This included anything related to contraception, abortion, sexually transmitted infections or sexual education. Anything that dealt with women's health issues were essentially deemed immoral or indecent by the men who ran the United States Congress of that time. Something you have to remember about this time period. The Civil War had ended less than 10 years earlier. The Southern States were in the midst of a military occupation, and the dead from the conflict was in the millions. Women had gained a bit of freedom during the war, much like during World War 2 when women were allowed to participate in the workforce; and the population needed to be rebuilt, which cannot be done without women. So, the morality of the day relied heavily on ensuring women provided a population of male workers for the workforce. Here's how the Comstock Act specifically impacted abortion and reproductive health: The Comstock Act made it illegal to distribute or even possess materials related to abortion. This meant that books, pamphlets, or any literature that provided information about abortion or how to perform one were forbidden. Women seeking information or assistance regarding abortion could not access legal or safe Comstock Act also banned the distribution of information about contraceptive methods, which were seen as linked to the practice of abortion. By limiting women's access to birth control information, the law indirectly forced women into situations where they might seek abortions to address unwanted pregnancies. Physicians who performed abortions, even for medical reasons, could face serious legal consequences under the Comstock Act. The law created a climate where doctors were often reluctant to openly discuss or perform abortion procedures, fearing legal repercussions. This contributed to a lack of accessible, safe medical care for women who might have needed abortion services. Since the Comstock Act severely restricted the distribution of abortion-related information, women had limited access to safe and legal abortion procedures. Many were forced to turn to unsafe, unregulated methods, leading to a rise in botched abortions, which could result in injury or death. It wasn't until the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that women regained legal access to abortion services in many parts of the U.S. The Comstock Act was a federal law, but states have the power to pass laws that protect or restrict reproductive rights, such as those in Hawaiʻi. Hawaiʻi has rather progressive laws when it comes to the protection of women and women's rights. If the Comstock Act were revived or enforced more strictly at the federal level, it would not automatically override state laws like those we have in Hawaiʻi. The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently upheld the concept that states can legislate in ways that protect certain rights. Because, remember, the concept of states' rights was one of the driving factors that led to the Civil War. Hawaiʻi has strong protections for reproductive rights. The state has laws that protect access to abortion, contraception and education. These include provisions for birth control access, emergency contraception and abortion services. Hawaiʻi has the legal parameters to use its state laws to protect access to contraception and abortion even if the Comstock Act were reinstituted. The state would likely challenge the enforcement of any federal law that interferes with its ability to provide reproductive health services. Like with the Civil War, a conflict could arise if the federal government actively enforced the Comstock Act to restrict access to reproductive healthcare information or services that infringed on the rights of states to determine issues like this for their citizens. Legal experts predict that states with strong protections, like Hawaiʻi, could push back through litigation or legislative action if the federal government tried to enforce such a law in a way that contradicts the state's laws. The key concern would be enforcement. The Comstock Act is centered on restricting the mailing and distribution of materials, which could include contraception-related information. The U.S. Postal Service and other federal agencies could be involved in regulating or preventing the distribution of such materials. However, enforcement at the local level would likely be difficult to fully implement in states like Hawaiʻi, where the local government has made clear its commitment to reproductive rights. Basically, the Comstock Act was an important tool in the criminalization of abortion and contraception in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Strong feminist movements were created in the aftermath of the Civil War. Women in the North had come to realize the power of their political involvement. Meanwhile, in the South, women came to understand their economic power. Through the 1870s up until the 1920s, women were a political and economic force to be reconned with. Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHON's morning podcast, every morning at 8 So, the Comstock Act greatly restricted women's ability to access information and effectively worked to isolate them from essential knowledge about reproductive health and rights. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
