Marie Stopes opened the UK's first birth control clinic 100 years ago – she was also a eugenicist

By Agnes Arnold-Forster, Research Fellow, History of Medicine and Healthcare, University of Bristol

Marie Stopes opened Britain’s first clinic offering birth control advice to married women. Born in Edinburgh in 1880, Stopes was an author, women’s rights campaigner and trained paleobotanist. She railed against the Catholic church and the male-dominated medical establishment. And her work – including her 1918 book Married Love – was pioneering.

She was also a fierce advocate…

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