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Maternity 173
of the State with his favorite slogan,
"
Mother
hood is the highest function of woman."
Finally the midwife Thomas is called upon for
her defense.
Thomas. A girl came to me one day; she was a serv
ant. She had been seduced by her master. I refused to
do what she asked me to do: she went and drowned her
self. Another I refused to help was brought up before
you here for infanticide. Then when the others came, I
said,
"
Yes." I have prevented many a suicide and many
a crime.
It is not likely that the venerable judge, the
State s attorney or the gentlemen of the jury can
see in Mme. Thomas a greater benefactress to
society than they; any more than they can grasp
the deep importance of the concluding words of
the counsel for the defense in this great social trag
edy.
Counsel for the Defense. Their crime is not an indi
vidual crime; it is a social crime. ... It is not a crime
against nature. It is a revolt against nature. And with
all the warmth of a heart melted by pity, with all the
indignation of my outraged reason, I look for that glori
ous hour of liberation when some master mind shall dis
cover for us the means of having only the children we
need and desire, release forever from the prison of hypoc
risy and absolve us from the profanation of love. That
would indeed be a conquest of nature savage nature
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