Page:Contraception; 1st ed. (IA in.ernet.dli.2015.94163).pdf/124
CONTRACEPTION
tiousness wrecks homes among those who have low ideals or none."[1]
An Illustrative Case taken from Dr. Robie is as follows (p. 386): "A woman married with a definite purpose of having intercourse for procreation only, first ascertaining that her husband-to-be was of the same mind. She has several children, is devoted to social questions, and especially seeks to be helpful to young men and women. Her health is frail. Her husband visits her for a week or two at a time on an average of about twice a year. She is evidently not happy in her home. He is evidently a fanatic or a crank."
Many propagandists of "purity" assert that long periods of total abstinence have no deleterious effect on men, but even Dr. Mary Scharlieb has pointed out the danger of resulting impotence. She said: "Men in a great many cases abstain during the first few years of marriage, and then, when they are most anxious to have children they cannot. I cannot explain it except by assuming that it is the result of thwarting nature. They are quite capable when first married, but in consequence of persistently
- ↑ W. F. Robie (1920): "Sex and Life." Pp. 424. Boston, 1920. See pp. 379–80.
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