Unearthing individual stories and statistical records from previously
overlooked birth control clinics, Cathy Moran Hajo looks past the
rhetoric of the birth control movement to show the relationships,
politics, and issues that defined the movement in neighborhoods and
cities across the United States. Whereas previous histories have
emphasized national trends and glossed over the majority of clinics,
Birth Control on Main Street contextualizes individual case studies to
add powerful new layers to the existing narratives on abortion, racism,
eugenics, and sterilization.
Hajo draws on an original database of more than 600 clinics run by birth
control leagues, hospitals, settlement houses, and public health groups
to isolate the birth control clinic from the larger narrative of the
moment. By revealing how clinics tested, treated, and educated women
regarding contraceptives, she shows how clinic operation differed
according to the needs and concerns of the districts it served.
Moving thematically through the politicized issues of the birth control
movement, Hajo infuses her analysis of the practical and medical issues
of the clinics with unique stories of activists who negotiated with
community groups to obey local laws and navigated the swirling debates
about how birth control centers should be controlled, who should receive
care, and how patients should be treated.
