There is another sacrifice, if it may be so called, which the husband is called upon to make during the pregnancy of his wife, namely, to abstain absolutely from sexual intercourse during the period of pregnancy and for two or three months following. This means practically one year of continent living. All other animals observe this period of continence. Nature demands that man observe it in common with other animals. Man is the only animal that has transgressed this fundamental law of nature. The retribution which nature metes out to the transgression of this law is various. Sometimes, but rarely, the sexual excitement on the part of the woman may cause an abortion, or a miscarriage. The more usual result makes itself manifest in the drain on the nervous energy of the woman. When we consider that maternity in the human race involves greater sacrifice than in any other animal, it would seem that the addition of this last demand, namely, of satisfying the sexual desires of the husband during the period of pregnancy, might prove "the straw that breaks the camel's back," and result in the more or less complete nervous breakdown of the woman. The author submits this question to all fair-minded men: Is it not due to the wife that she be not asked to satisfy the recurring sexual desires of the husband during the period when her life and its energies are so sacred to the race, to society, and to the family?
The author submits this question because some men are known to transgress this law of nature. Fortunately the proportion of men who thus transgress is not large.
Let us stand for these things: (1) An equal standard of purity for men and women, (2) A strenuous, virile, continent manhood, (3) Sexual temperance in wedlock.