Category: Historical Commentary
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Why the Stopes v Sutherland Trial Still Matters Today
Introduction The Stopes v Sutherland libel trial (1923–24) was one of Britain’s most significant public debates about population control and eugenics. Yet today accounts of the trial are often simplified into a “Catholics against contraceptives” schema and Stopes’ eugenic agenda is downplayed (or even omitted!). This post explains what the trial was really about and…
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Why Halliday Sutherland Opposed Eugenics (Long Before His Conversion)
Dr Halliday Sutherland is often described in modern summaries as opposing Marie Stopes because of her advocacy for contraceptives and his Catholic beliefs. This explanation is simple, convenient and historically incorrect. The documentary record shows that Sutherland’s opposition to Stopes arose from his opposition to eugenics, that his opposition to eugenics arose directly from his…
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What the ‘Tenets of the CBC’ actually said
The “Tenets of the C.B.C.” (or to give them their full name, the ‘Tenets of the Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress’) is one of the most important—and often overlooked—documents in the history of reproductive politics in Britain. Written by Marie Stopes in 1921, it set out the guiding principles for the Mothers’…