The Eastview Birth Control Trial was an important event in the history of contraception in Canada. In keeping with contemporary

Christian views on contraception Prior to the 20th century, three major branches of Christianity—Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism—including leading Protestant reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin generally held a critical perspective of birth control (also known ...

, the dissemination of information and the possession of materials relating to birth control were illegal in Canada. The trial was the first successful legal challenge, and it marked the beginning of a shift in Canadian society's acceptance towards such practices (McLaren and McLaren, 85-87). On September 14, 1936, 28-year-old

Dorothea Palmer Dorothea Palmer (Ferguson) (1908 – 1992), a former employee of the Parents' Information Bureau, was arrested and charged under section 207(c) of the Criminal Code for advertising information on family planning and birth control by means of a pamp ...

was arrested in Eastview (now

Vanier, Ontario Vanier, formerly Eastview, is a neighbourhood in the Rideau-Vanier Ward of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's east end. Historically francophone and working class, the neighbourhood was a separate city until being amalgamated into Ottawa in 2001. It no lon ...

), where a large number of people of French-Canadian or Irish ancestry made up the town's population of about 4,000. Palmer was charged under section 207 of the

Criminal Code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...

for possessing and distributing materials and pamphlets related to birth control. As she was working for the Kitchener-based Parents' Information Bureau (PIB), her arrest could have led to the collapse of the organization and as many as two years' imprisonment for Palmer. However, the PIB was the brainchild of industrialist A.R. Kaufman, a eugenically-minded industrialist, whose family founded

Kaufman Rubber Company Kaufman Footwear was a Kitchener, Ontario-based shoe company. It was known for its Sorel brand. History The Kaufman Rubber Company was founded by Jacob Kaufman and his son Alvin Ratz Kaufman in 1908, in Berlin, Ontario - what is now Kitchener, Ont ...

. His financial support and the hiring of defense attorney F. W. Wegenast would eventually see Palmer's charges dropped. The trial lasted from September 1936 to March 1937. Ultimately, the case was dismissed by the presiding magistrate Lester H. Clayton, who ruled that, as Palmer's actions were "in the public good," no charges could be held against her. In his final ruling, he explained that:

The mothers are in poor health, pregnant nine months of the year ... What chance do these children have to be properly fed, clothed and educated? They are a burden on the taxpayer. They crowd the juvenile court. They glut the competitive labour market.

Although contraception was not fully legalized in Canada until 1969, Palmer was the only person to be prosecuted for providing information about birth control.

References

*Beswick, Lorne. "Reds in Beds: The Communist Party of Canada and the Politics of Reproduction, 1920-1970," Ph.D Thesis: Queen's University, 2017. *McLaren, Angus and Arlene Tigar McLaren. ''The Bedroom and the State: The Changing Practices and Politics of Contraception and Abortion in Canada, 1880-1980.'' Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1986. {{DEFAULTSORT:Eastview Birth Control Trial 1936 in Canada 1937 in Canada History of Ottawa Legal history of Canada Birth control law and case law 1936 in Ontario 1937 in Ontario

See also

References