Now, is it not far more reasonable to suppose that, since the possibility of determining the number of off-spring a husband and wife may produce has been given them; that since such result can be, for them, made a matter of choice, of an exercise of the will, and not of blind instinct—­under these circumstances, all of which undoubtedly exist, is it not far more reasonable to believe that it is the purpose of the Creator that the limiting of the number of human beings in the world should be brought about by curbing the birth rate, rather than by killing the surplus after they are born!

There can be but one answer made to this question, by any intelligent man or woman.

These facts, then, establish the rightfulness of determining the number and size of a family by every husband and wife.  But this does not mean that they are to entirely refrain from cohabiting, in order to keep from having children!  This phase of the argument has already been gone over and disposed of.  But it does mean that husbands and wives have a right to use such rightful means for the limiting of the number of offspring as are conducive to the interests of all parties concerned—­themselves, their circumstances, the born or unborn children, the state, the nation.  Let the bride and groom be well convinced and established in their own minds on these points, as early in their relation as possible.  They should be so from the very outset—­must be so, to reach the best results.

The issue then presents itself:  How can such deliberate and wilful determination of the number of children a husband and wife may have, be brought about?

And the answer is, that it can never be accomplished by careless and hap-hazard cohabiting! On the contrary, it can only be compassed by the most careful and watchful processes of engaging in coitus, and by a full knowledge of physiological facts, and by acting, always, in accordance with the same.  It is no road for careless travel, but it is a way worth going in, for all that.

On this point, let it be said that all sane and intelligent men and women agree that anything even approaching infanticide is nothing short of a crime, and that abortion, except for the purpose of saving the life of the mother, is practically murder.

But, while this is all true, to prevent the contact of two germs which, if permitted to unite, would be liable to result in a living human form, is quite another affair.

It is only this aspect of the situation which will be considered in what follows.

Now, as has already been shown, the essentials for conception consist of having the ovum present in the womb, and its meeting the semen there.  The corollary of this is, that whenever these coincidences take place, there is a possibility for conception.