Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1893-04-20
TIE AYrI.MATERNAL CRIME.
Keen Analysis Of Womanly Sininlness
and IndiscreiiOn.



Press, New York;
In all our church pews throughout the
civilized world there sit devout pro-
iessors Of religion whose souls are
stained with crimc--women whose
bowed heads, Bonded knees, and earnest
responses through Divine service indl-
cate fervor OF faith, yet whose pfiVatg
deeds have shocked high Heaven ana
broken one OF Gods most sacred laws
Should these women be assembled 70
gether, auaigned for their crimes,
doubt II there is a court OF Justice ~ inc
land large enough to admit thcm'
refer TO the ever increasing nuinbei oI
women who, for various reasons 9Dl.ot
to becoming mothers, and who, iaclnH
the probability OF such an event. tAho
the matter OF life and death into theI
own hands.
For many Of these women my heart
aches with pity and sympathy. "
easy to understand their situation ana !"
cast the mantle Of charity over Their
crimes. When public disgrace stafes
weak woman In the face as the result oi
an indiscrcet act, or when poverty ana
hunger and disease seem the inevitable
norton that life will bcqueath to 40
undesired child. the temptation must be
overwhelming to a sofrowiul and bur
denod woman 10 prevent the catastrophe
Of birth.
Only those who have passed through
the experience OF motherhood can
understand what it means to conicm'
plate even under It's brightest and best
auspices. With health, love. enough OF
this worlds goods TO avert financial
worry, and with strong maternal desires,
yet il needs a brave heart asteady cour'
age, a spirit Of selfsacrihce and infinite
patience TO pass through the months OF
ordcals which il involves, What, then
must Il mean to the unhappy wife, I'M
loved and neglected, and already so
burdenod with unwelcome children That
she cannot free herself from her CALLING
chains, or to one who is Obliged to toll
early and late to keep starvation rom
the door, or to one who feels herself the
victim Of hopeless malady, which a
helpless child will inherit; and yet the
woman who prevents the life OF that
germ from maturing to birth commits
the crime Of murder.
! believe the false idea Of many So
called Christian women In regard 20
this matter, Is due largely to their literal
translation Of one Of the many iigura-
tive scriptural phrases.
II seems to be the impression OF such
women that child has no life until Il
has drawn breath. The science OF
modern times, however, proves such an
idea ridiculous. a devoted church
woman Of my acquaintance made an
unfortunate marriage. She was obliged
TO return TO her parents before six
months had elapsed. a dangerous i'll
ness which followed her return was not
wholly due to mental agitation nor
was her escape from maternity acct
dental.
She had purchased surgical skill to
aid her In counteTacting natures laws
and to free her from the responsibility
of fatherless child. II was not diff
cult to understand her temptation, but
with her religious views Il was difficult
for me to see how she had dared COM
nit the act.
"Oh, but child has no real being
until Il has brcaihed," she said. "lt
would have been the loss Of a soul had
the breath OF life entered the child, as Il
Is, why, Il Is merely a misfortune, result
ING in pain and misery to me, that Is
ALL"
Alas for the narrowness and unhol.
ness OF a creed that can be content with
such an argument
The moment a woman knows that
motherhood is a probable event for her
that moment she has the soul OF her
child in her keeping. No matter how
soon she escapes from this menacing
maternity. no matter how immature the
germ OF life she prevents from culminat'
ing, yet an immortal soul goes into the
spirit life which she must sometime
meet.
From every pulpit In the land ought
this truth to be Numbered forth. II
ought TO form part OF the moral train
ing in every young ladies' seminary.
The sinful. poor, burdened, or dis
sased women who commit this crime are
few In numbers compared with the vast
army OF selfish, fashionable wives who
do not want TO be troubled with chill.
dren. This army Is growing rapidly, as
medical assistance becomes more plenti'
iul and skilhl in this especial line.
have known women who committed
this crime over aud over again; and !
never yet met such one who was not
hardened In heart and face. There Is
something about II which destroys the
moral fibre OF the mind, even when the
woman does not believe her embryo
child possessed a soul.
A famous physician once said to me:
"ln the beginning OF my practice used
TO help women who came TO me for such
purposes; used to think that an I'M
happy wife or very poor woman was
better of and left the world better OIL
by avoiding maternity In this way It she
could not In any other; but my expert
cnce proved to me that was commit
ing double sin; not only destroyed
life, but | ruined the moral nature OF The
mother. | have been shocked at The
degeneration Of good women whc
escaped bearing offspring in this manner
believe the repetition OF the act severa
times Stays the soul, and fits the woman
for almost any deprayity."
Il is pity we have not more physlc
ians Of this kind They would be o
vast aid to humanity IN its growtl
towad a higher spiritual plane.
have personally observed man.
women whom knew to have perpeirat
ed this crime, and have remarked ina
the one Of fine instincts aud SENSITIVE