In March of 1921, with the help of her husband Humphrey Roe, she opened the first birth control clinic in England (Briant, 1962). It was located in North London and remained open until 1977 (Rose, 1992). The only reason that it was closed down then was because reproductive health care in England was nationalized. One thing that helped Stopes, however, was that she had many political connections with upper-class individuals and she was able to create and enforce a number of very strict rules regarding her clinic so that she did not experience the kinds of problems that were seen in clinics of the same type in other countries such as the United States (Briant, 1962). One of the main rules of Stopes' clinic was that she would not offer birth control to anyone who could not prove that she had already born at least one child. Not everyone liked these rules, but Stopes remained firm (Hall, 1977). Legal troubles were few where Stopes and her clinic were concerned (Briant, 1962). She courted those in the political right and she wrote pamphlets and books instead of moving out of her safe haven to campaign on the streets for birth control and women's rights. She was flamboyant and confrontational when needed, however, and this gave her a great deal of publicity for her cause, which ultimately continued to help more and more women (Rose, 1992, Hall, 1977). This was important for children as well because history indicates that abortion rates rise when contraception is deliberately restricted, and when both are restricted...

Most individuals that were advocates of birth control early on in 20th century England avoided advocating abortion rights, with the exception of Stopes (Briant, 1962).
Now, because of Stopes and others that felt women's rights were important and there was no need to continue to bring unwanted children into the world or continue to see abortion as the 'convenient' alternative, all women in England have a choice. Birth control is still seen by some (such as some extremely devout Catholics, for example) as being wrong, but overall there is no stigma to purchasing birth control, even if a woman is unmarried. This is a marked difference from what took place during Stopes' lifetime. Stopes and others like her would undoubtedly be very pleased that virtually all women in developed nations now have choices. They might never have had any of these options without the work and dedication of those that believed in rights and choices. There will always be individuals in England and in other countries that do not agree with different things that society does, but for the most part birth control is now an accepted part of British society both in social and political circles.

Bibliography

Briant, Keith. Marie Stopes: A Biography. London: Hogarth, 1962.

Hall, Ruth. Passionate Crusader: The Life of Marie Stopes. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977.

Maude, Aylmer. The Authorized Life of Marie C.…