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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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upsurge of population in this country after the war?

Lasker:

I think the interest in it has come about in a different way, but I'll discuss it a little bit later.

I forgot to say that on the 9th of December--wasn't that the day that the United States declared war in '41?--Mrs. Roosevelt invited me to come to the White House and to ask anybody I wanted to be present to meet with the Public Health Service to discuss the possibility of the Public Health Service doing more about planned parenthood or birth control in their programs. This was a revolutionary thing, to have a meeting in the White House on the subject of birth control. And various people came from the Public Health Service and from the Planned Parenthood Federation.

However, it was the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor and people were in such a state of agitation that practically nothing came of this luncheon, although I recall being there and being the hostess at the luncheon, when Mrs. Roosevelt came back with the President after the President had gone to the Congress to ask for a declaration of war. It was as if the whole idea were swept away. If it had happened much sooner, it might have had some effect, because she would have been present and her presence would have changed the attitude of the Public Health Service people, and her enthusiasm and her sincerity would have influenced them.





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