--- title: Birth Control History: Read Emma Goldman's 1916 Defense description: Goldman was arrested exactly 100 years ago for distributing information about birth control canonical: https://time.com/4208056/emma-goldman-1916-birth-control/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-11T14:00:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:38.734Z article:section: History og:title: Birth Control History: Read Emma Goldman's 1916 Defense og:description: 'When a law has outgrown time and necessity, it must go' og:url: https://time.com/4208056/emma-goldman-1916-birth-control/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta435e925569f3897/69887c22cf40a84ce0c41cf3/goldman.jpeg?branch=production&width=628&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 628 og:image:height: 353 og:image:alt: Emma Goldman og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Birth Control History: Read Emma Goldman's 1916 Defense twitter:description: 'When a law has outgrown time and necessity, it must go' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta435e925569f3897/69887c22cf40a84ce0c41cf3/goldman.jpeg?branch=production&width=628&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Emma Goldman's 1916 Letter Defending the Need for Birth Control > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=7add6396-40fd-41cd-936b-5a70f330b3eb&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=7add6396-40fd-41cd-936b-5a70f330b3eb&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The History of Birth Control [Watch (HLS stream): The History of Birth Control](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4oCau3Jn.m3u8) (3:12)  _Published 2015-01-22. For as long as men and women have been having children, they’ve been trying to figure out how not to. Artifacts dating back to ancient times have shown that contraceptives have been used for thousands of years._  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Feb 11, 2016 2:00 PM UTC  Portrait of Emma Goldman as she appeared just before entering the federal penitentiary to serve her term after a later arrest, in 1917 Portrait of Emma Goldman as she appeared just before entering the federal penitentiary to serve her term after a later arrest, in 1917 PhotoQuest / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Feb 11, 2016 2:00 PM UTC For decades after the passage of the Comstock Act in 1873, it was illegal in most states for anyone—even doctors—to dispense information about contraception. But that didn’t stop Emma Goldman, one of the 20th century’s most famous anarchists and also an early crusader for family planning. Goldman’s outspoken advocacy of birth control led to her arrest 100 years ago—on Feb. 11, 1916—on obscenity charges while on her way to give a lecture on the topic of atheism. A few days later, Goldman wrote a [letter](http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/goldman/pdfs/letter14.pdf) to the press laying out her motivation (the letter is in [the impressive Emma Goldman Papers collection at Berkeley](http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/goldman/index.html)): --- > “” --- Concluding her letter, Goldman noted that, “while I am not particularly anxious to go to jail, I should yet be glad to do so, if thereby I can add my might to the importance of birth control and the wiping off our antiquated law upon the statute.” The activist ended up spending two weeks in a prison workhouse. The [Carnegie Hall meeting ](https://books.google.com/books?id=QZJGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA445&dq=emma+goldman+released+from+workhouse+may+1916&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPz9z-5N7KAhUCCT4KHai-AcQQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=emma%20goldman%20released%20from%20workhouse%20may%201916&f=false)that marked her release that May drew more than 3,000 people who wanted to celebrate her return—and to obtain information about birth control. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] For as long as men and women have been having children, they've been trying to figure out how not to. Artifacts dating back to ancient times have shown that contraceptives have been used for thousands of years. Unsurprisingly, not every method was all that effective. In ancient China, concubines would drink a cocktail of lead and mercury. Unfortunately, the side effects included sterility, brain damage. Kidney failure and death. Ancient Egyptian women would mix honey, sodium carbonate, and crocodile dung into a thick paste they would insert into themselves before having sex. In Greece in the year 200 a gynecologist named Soranus. Advised women to hold their breathe during intercourse and sneeze afterward. [ SNEEZE ] And in the Middle Ages in Europe, women believed tying weasel testicles to their thighs or around their necks during sex would prevent pregnancy. Huh? But it wasn't all a shot in the dark. Many modern forms of contraception have roots in the ancient past. For example, ancient cave drawings found in France appear to show an early version of the condom and a prototype of the cervical cap has been used since Casanova's days. In his memoirs written in the 18th century he describes using partially squeezed lemon halves to do the trick. [ MUSIC ] The modern history of not having babies begins in the mid 1800's. When vulcanized rubber was patented and condoms could be mass produced. [ MUSIC ] Yet for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries women had a hard time getting their hands on effective contraception. Contraception. Anti- obscenity laws in the US restricted anyone, including doctors, from spreading information about it. But that didn't stop women from trying to prevent pregnancy. Many women would use household products, such as Lysol or Coca- Cola, which they believed would kill sperm. [ MUSIC ] Advertisements for Lysol even endorsed the product as a way for women to protect their married happiness. All of that changed in 1960 when the FDA approved an oral contraceptive pill thanks to the tireless efforts of activist Margaret Sanger. And a team of doctors. Within five years millions of American women had prescriptions for the pill. In the following decades other forms of reliable contraception appeared, including IUD's. Safe and effective birth control still isn't a universal privilege. A 2013 report found that 222 million women from developing countries around the world. Said they wanted to use birth control but didn't have access to it. But in the US, a whopping 99 % of women of child bearing age say that they've used some form of contraception. No crocodile dung required. 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