Kentucky Birth Control League

The Kentucky Birth Control League was organized in 1933 by Jean Brandeis Tachau in Louisville as an affiliate of the American Birth Control League. The first clinic, known as the Maternal Health Clinic, was opened at the Norton Infirmary for married, white mothers in need of services for "health reasons." In 1937, the League opened its own clinic with "no restrictions, except separate days for white and colored." (Family Planning in Kentucky - A History, p. 5) The League emphasized educating the public about birth control and the benefits of spacing children more than one year apart. The organization faced opposition from the Catholic Church as did the Courier-Journal, the largest newspaper in Kentucky at the time. The newspaper ran a full-page ad on birth control in April, 1941 that sparked highly emotional responses from its readers, especially Catholics. A Jefferson County grand jury condemned the Courier-Journal for the advertisement and some subscriptions were cancelled. Work was expanded to other counties around Kentucky in 1938. Since the League's budget was small, various pharmaceutical companies offered some contraceptive supplies for free in exchange for information concerning the reliability of their products.