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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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Part:         Session:         Page of 1143

Lasker:

It's true that then in '41 there were about 120 birth control clinics in Puerto Rico and there was a bigger-scaled child spacing information program there per capita than in any other part of the United States.

Q:

Now, isn't that curious, being a Roman Catholic country, that it should be. . .

Lasker:

Well, because the need was so desperate, and evidently whatever Roosevelt had suggested be done got going under--evidently the Bishop saw that the needs were very great and that adult sex hygiene was necessary.

I tried to say something about what an adequate child spacing program would do for this country, but the conversation drifted off to other things, such as the sanatarium the President had just discovered in California for the Navy's use.

We left the President and went off to a meeting of women who were meeting on civilian defense.

Q:

You went with Mrs. Roosevelt?

Lasker:

Yes, I went with Mrs. Roosevelt.

The next day I lunched at the White House with Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Morgenthau and some other women, and Mrs. Roosevelt made an appointment for me to see Mrs. Perkins, the





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