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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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had never discussed the subject in public before and certainly had never said anything favorable about it, although I know that for years he thought it was a problem that should be given consideration. The President's statement activated a lot of interest and many people who hadn't thought about it before seriously began to think about it. They saw that American foreign aid was being eaten up by increases in population and that individuals of the countries we were aiding would never be better off if the same amounts of funds and same amounts of production would have to be divided between more and more people.

Q:

Mrs. Lasker, if you will employ hindsight for a moment, do you think in the light of your experience that this timorous approach to the problem has been justified, say, with members of Congress a fear of Catholic retaliation, whether this is truly justified or not?

Lasker:

Well, I think that it could easily have happened had there not been a lot of publicity on television. There were two very good television programs, both of which won Lasker Journalism Awards, and which caused a wide amount of discussion. I think the President's espousal of the need for more research, which after all we undoubtedly do need, but as there is an effective contraceptive pill at the present time, what we need is to distribute the pill and educate people on the use of it. But, at any rate, I think there was danger, especially on the House side, as there are many Catholics in the Congress, who, without





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