YD's Back Bill On Contraception

The executive committee of the Harvard-Radcliffe Young Democrats voted unanimously last night to "actively support" a bill to legalize contraceptive devices, now before the Massachusetts General Court.

The bill would permit pharmacists to dispense contraceptive devices prescribed by a physician. It would also allow welfare agencies to disseminate information on birth control.

The executive committee will back this bill in letters to various newspapers and to congressmen in the Massachusetts General Court. It also plans to encourage students to write to congressmen in support of the bill.

The Young Democrats resolution, which originated in its Poverty, Welfare and Housing Subcommittee, stressed the importance of contraception in alleviating poverty. It said that the poor cannot now obtain contraceptives "extra-legally" as easily as others can.

The resolution further stated that the "physical and psychological harm" to an unwanted child, to a poor family with too many children, "to a mother, pregnant too often, all demand this Bill."

The Young Democrat's statement also called the existing law an "invasion of privacy."