History of Birth Control Research Papers (original) (raw)

Thee article considers risks as well as ethical and legal dilemmas arising from the human population explosion. It presents the causes of this occurrence, its course and forecasts as to the further growth of the global population.... more

Thee article considers risks as well as ethical and legal dilemmas arising from the human population explosion. It presents the causes of this occurrence, its course and forecasts as to the further growth of the global population. Furthermore, it contains an analysis of birth control methods and shows
a link between arguments of selected stances and inter alia economics and ecology. The human population explosion has been recognised by the authors as one of the major causes of the deepening crisis in the natural environmental balance.

The North Kensington Women’s Welfare Centre (NKWWC) is an oft mentioned and referenced Birth Control Clinic located in inner West London from 1924, which was integral to the development of the National Birth Control and later, the Family... more

The North Kensington Women’s Welfare Centre (NKWWC) is an oft mentioned and referenced Birth Control Clinic located in inner West London from 1924, which was integral to the development of the National Birth Control and later, the Family Planning Association’s momentum and popularity in the mid-twentieth century. The site was key to the push to legitimise contraception through medicine and science, from the 1920s through to the hormonal birth control revolution; using a combination of active, female centric, medical based contraceptive and gynecological services, and, the employment of a scientific researcher to assist in standardising, and legitimising the various methods of birth control recommended and provided by Clinic.
This talk will discuss the standardisation activities that were pioneered and commandeered by the NKWWC Medical Committee from its formation sometime in the early 1930s, to the 1950s. Focusing on Margery Spring Rice and Dr Helena Wright, the two women who organised and managed the facility, and jointly refined the procedures for providing personalised and medically appropriate treatment to all attendees regardless of class, education or finances. The strict medical focus of the clinic was founded early when it was agreed that all patients must be provided a gynecological assessment prior to offering contraceptives; in addition, each patient would be seen by three female staff members at every appointment – a lay worker to collect non-medical data and compile ‘case cards’, a physician, conducting a detailed medical history and prescribing appropriate birth control to accommodate individual needs and preferences, and finally, a nurse to ensure the patient was able to insert and remove devices proficiently.
Concurrently, Cecil B. Voge, contraceptive researcher into spermicidal efficiency and standards for the National Committee for Maternal Health and the Rockefeller Foundation in the United States of America will be discussed. Whilst searching for a British facility to trial his newly developed ‘perfect contraceptive’, Voge became well acquainted with the NKWWC, and was invited to join the medical committee and act as the Clinic’s scientific researcher, a role he undertook with gusto. In this capacity he would ensure effectiveness and safety of contraceptives used at the clinic, and establish product standards the Medical Committee could demand of affiliated manufacturers.

In 1914, women in the United-States did not have the right to vote in most states, they were not educated the same way; Anti-obscenity laws or Comstock laws were double-standard type of laws allowing unfaithful husbands to obtain condoms... more

In 1914, women in the United-States did not have the right to vote in most states, they were not educated the same way; Anti-obscenity laws or Comstock laws were double-standard type of laws allowing unfaithful husbands to obtain condoms to protect themselves from venereal diseases but prohibited its contraceptive use by couples. Margaret Sanger had experienced the horrors and dangers of home abortion when she was a nurse in the immigrant neighborhood of New-York’s Lower-east-Side, also, her experience as a labour organiser during the Lawrence Strike of 1912 taught her how to protest and reach a wide audience and slogan on her magazine “No gods no masters” which was used during the demonstrations.

A Brief Review of the Sexual Revolution in the 60s in America, Britain and Europe

Puerto Rico is the oldest existing colony in the world. e Island was colonised rst by Spain in 1493 and then by the United States (US) in 1898. is article explores systematic and institutional violences committed throughout the early to... more

Puerto Rico is the oldest existing colony in the world. e Island was colonised rst by Spain in 1493 and then by the United States (US) in 1898. is article explores systematic and institutional violences committed throughout the early to mid-twentieth century by the US against Puerto Rican women on the Island. US colonialists blamed Puerto Rican women for the Island's poverty and targeted them in colonial initiatives. In this article the term 'colonialists' refers to diverse actors in in uential positions such as in private industries, government agencies, and research positions who advocated for colonialism in Puerto Rico. e pages below examine how such colonialists utilised eugenics ideologies to (1) describe the Island's poverty as due to overpopulation; (2) insist that Puerto Rican women refrain from sex; and (3) 'justify' dangerous birth control trials on Puerto Rican women and coerced sterilisation of Puerto Rican women. e article concludes by examining how during the second-wave feminist movement that emerged Stateside in the 1960s, Puerto Rican women drew attention to women's victimisation on the Island to argue for an inclusive and intersectional de nition of reproductive rights.

Official Catholic opposition to contraception has long been portrayed as a stand that is based in antiquated doctrine and "out of touch" with society and its problems. In fact, Catholic arguments often have been less devoted to doctrine... more

Official Catholic opposition to contraception has long been portrayed as a stand that is based in antiquated doctrine and "out of touch" with society and its problems. In fact, Catholic arguments often have been less devoted to doctrine and more reflective of concerns for social justice and human rights. This was certainly the case in Latin America, as international birth control programs evolved in the mid to late 20th century. Programs were targeted at developing nations like those in Latin America which were experiencing what was termed a "population explosion." This article describes how, in this primarily Catholic region, Catholic authorities responded to population policy, arguing that overpopulation should not be considered the primary cause of economic strife, nor should birth control be promoted as the solution.

The debate on the witch massacres of early modern times has resulted in a thesis on the extirpation of female “naturalness and irrationality,” apparently because it impeded the scientific breakthrough of the 16th and 17th centuries.... more

The debate on the witch massacres of early modern times has resulted in a thesis on the extirpation of female “naturalness and irrationality,” apparently because it impeded the scientific breakthrough of the 16th and 17th centuries. Challenging this explanation, it is shown that not an “irrational” but instead, a highly rational behavior of women was destroyed. This rational behavior can be deciphered as the medieval culture of birth control, regulating the number of children according only to the parents’ requirements and practiced mainly by midwives. The means of contraception and abortion were defined as witchcraft. Therefore, the midwives became the main target of the pro-natalist, mercantilist policy after the “population catastrophe” of the 14th century. This new policy was legitimized by the ancient Judaeo-Christian view of the “sanctity of life.”

Family Planning and Birth Control in Hungary as a Legacy of War Time Sexual Violence and Lobby Work of Gynaecologists by Andrea Pető – Fanni Svégel (Summary) In Hungary, the regulation of family planning and birth control... more

Family Planning and Birth Control in Hungary as a Legacy of War Time Sexual Violence and Lobby Work of Gynaecologists by Andrea Pető – Fanni Svégel (Summary)
In Hungary, the regulation of family planning and birth control intersect with mass ra-pes committed during the First and the Second World War. The paper observes how the phenomenon of mass military rape influenced ongoing debates on termination of pregnancy, and what legal and practical consequences followed. Cases of rape during World War I sparked public debates that gradually created space for abortion legalisation. The long-discussed permissive law only came into effect after the mass rape committed by soldiers of the Soviet Army in 1945 followed by the adoption of the Soviet family policy model with all its turns. The article introduces the contribution of the obstetrician-gynaecologist lobby to the debates, more precisely: how could they represent their own professional and financial interests during the policy making processes. Abortion committees and their social role have proven to be crucial for at least one generation of women. The vigorous medicalization and administrative control that began in the early 1950s changed the birth control system by the 1970s: the dominance of abortions was gradually replaced by the widespread use of modern contraceptives. The subsequent population policy campaign (1973) and civil resistance, followed by the heated debates over constitutional regulation after the change of the regime show the fragility of the delicate balance and a possibility for a compromise.

Margaret Sanger's The Woman Rebel functioned rhetorically to redefıne morality in the Progressive Era. After advancing a theory of angry rhetoric as a public moral emotion, I offer a reading strategy of emotional adherence to track... more

Margaret Sanger's The Woman Rebel functioned rhetorically to redefıne morality in the Progressive Era. After advancing a theory of angry rhetoric as a public moral emotion, I offer a reading strategy of emotional adherence to track anger's diffuse discursive power in The Woman Rebel. The angry rhetoric of The Woman Rebel not only laid a new cultural ideal for the morality of contraception, it also constituted a militant identity for those oriented by their anger at The Woman Rebel's suppression and Sanger's criminal indictments. This essay closes by meditating upon the lasting role that anger has played in energizing the International Planned Parenthood Federation over the past 60 years. EMILY WINDERMAN is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Georgia in Athens. She wishes to thank Celeste M. Condit, Belinda A. Stillion Southard, Barbara A. Biesecker, Kelly E. Happe, and Atilla Hallsby for their guidance and support in this project. The author extends her gratitude to fellow participants at the 2013 "Rhetoric and Materiality" Doctoral Honors Seminar and is grateful for the extensive feedback from Nathan Stormer, Brian L. Ott, and Greg Dickinson. Last, the author wishes to thank Martin J. Medhurst and the two anonymous reviewers for their careful readings of this essay.

Records of abortions exist from throughout the American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A variety of herbs and other plant products, including tansy, savin, pennyroyal, seneca snakeroot, and rue were used as... more

Records of abortions exist from throughout the American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A variety of herbs and other plant products, including tansy, savin, pennyroyal, seneca snakeroot, and rue were used as abortifacients, some available from physicians but many attainable through herb gardens. Historians have had difficulty determining which were effective, which were not, and which were fatal to the mother, but they conclude that many of the concoctions taken were poisonous. Some have been determined so toxic it seems unlikely that women ingested them voluntarily, unless attempting suicide. It is possible that another person-often the man who impregnated her-would persuade the woman to ingest it. However, intense reactions to medication were viewed as proof of effectiveness, so vomiting and blistering were considered necessary side effects.

This research explores the history of the birth control pill in America and its ties to feminism and women's reproductive rights. The Research highlights the 1970 Nelson Pill Hearings and the movements for women to have the autonomy to... more

This research explores the history of the birth control pill in America and its ties to feminism and women's reproductive rights. The Research highlights the 1970 Nelson Pill Hearings and the movements for women to have the autonomy to make their own reproductive decisions.

This paper discusses research on men's reproductive health and sexuality in Oaxaca, Mexico, and specifically why some men there choose to be sterilized. Men who opt for vasectomies do so after considering numerous cultural, historical,... more

This paper discusses research on men's reproductive health and sexuality in Oaxaca, Mexico, and specifically why some men there choose to be sterilized. Men who opt for vasectomies do so after considering numerous cultural, historical, physiological, commercial, and other concerns. Men and women in Oaxaca negotiate certain cultural folk beliefs about supposed male sexual desires and practices before arriving at the decision to get the operation. Vasectomy as a method of birth control is chosen despite folk beliefs that take the form of a totemic illusion which treats male sexuality as naturalized, something fixed, and as entirely distinct from female sexuality. Among its many consequences, this totemic illusion serves to conceal inequalities in the sphere of reproductive health and sexuality in relation to contraception.

The class will address women's experiences and contributions throughout America history. We will also discuss how race, class, age, sexual preference, and other categories and identities shape women's experiences along with gender.... more

The class will address women's experiences and contributions throughout America history. We will also discuss how race, class, age, sexual preference, and other categories and identities shape women's experiences along with gender. Reoccurring topics will include paid work and housework, political activism, family and marriage, gender roles, sex and sexuality, and stereotypes and symbols of women.

En Russie soviétique, après la déstalinisation, l’avortement était accessible légalement sur simple demande de la femme, mais les politiques publiques encourageaient peu la diffusion de la contraception ‘moderne’. Les femmes de la... more

En Russie soviétique, après la déstalinisation, l’avortement était accessible légalement sur simple demande de la femme, mais les politiques publiques encourageaient peu la diffusion de la contraception ‘moderne’. Les femmes de la ‘dernière génération soviétique’, entrées dans l’âge adulte autour des années 1980, recouraient souvent aux méthodes ‘traditionnelles’ et avortaient en moyenne trois ou quatre fois au cours de leur vie : rarement pour repousser à plus tard la première naissance, le plus souvent pour espacer et limiter les suivantes. Cet article analyse les rationalités situées de leurs choix procréatifs, et montre que la non-planification des grossesses prenait des significations différentes en fonction, notamment, des enfants déjà nés et du contexte conjugal.

Badania nad historią antykoncepcji od kilkudziesięciu lat stanowią bogaty i różnorodny obszar rozważań sytuujący się w obrębie historii kobiet i rodziny, seksualności, ciała, społecznej historii medycyny czy demografii historycznej. 0 ich... more

Badania nad historią antykoncepcji od kilkudziesięciu lat stanowią bogaty i różnorodny obszar rozważań sytuujący się w obrębie historii kobiet i rodziny, seksualności, ciała, społecznej historii medycyny czy demografii historycznej. 0 ich popularności i silnym zakorzenieniu świadczy chociażby liczba syntez, stawiających sobie za cel przedstawienie historii antykoncepcji od starożytności aż po dzień dzisiejszy. Społecznym i kulturowym zmianom związanym ze środkami zapobiegającymi ciąży szczególnie chętnie przyglądali się historycy XIX i XX w. — okresu rewolucji w tej dziedzinie. Historię antykoncepcji ostatnich dwustu lat bada się w kontekście przemian obyczajowych, nowinek technologicznych umożliwiających powstanie nowoczesnych i coraz skuteczniejszych metod, polityki populacyjnej czy też zmian legislacyjnych. Temat ten, kiedyś stanowiący tabu, od pewnego czasu staje się coraz bardziej akceptowanym i popularnym nurtem rozważań, zwłaszcza w krajach Europy Zachodniej i Ameryki Północnej.

The article presents state-socialist and Catholic reproductive and population politics of Cold War Poland, focusing on competing discourses of population growth that were present in public debates since the 1950s up to the 1970s.... more

The article presents state-socialist and Catholic reproductive and population politics of Cold War Poland, focusing on competing discourses of population growth that were present in public debates since the 1950s up to the 1970s. Situating the local Polish case in a wider international framework, I examine references to Malthusian and Marxists theories of population in the statements of party-state and Catholic journalists during the only period of (mod-erate) anti-natalism in the history of state-socialist Poland. I argue that by ignoring the more moderate Catholic population and reproductive politics rationales, party-state journalists attempted to position Church leaders and commentators as unanimous supporters of 'unfettered fertility' and to present the party state as the only modernizing force whose population and reproductive politics would guarantee Polish citizens' prosperous standards of living attained thanks to small-sized families rearing high-quality children. In the official rhetoric this model of the modern family was to be achieved thanks to contraceptives that were endorsed by the party state supporting a 'conscious motherhood' campaign initiated in the late 1950s by the Polish family planning association.

This class will discuss the history of sexuality in the United States, with a focus on gender and women. In addition, we will frequently be thinking about how other social identities besides gender shape people's experiences and ideas... more

This class will discuss the history of sexuality in the United States, with a focus on gender and women. In addition, we will frequently be thinking about how other social identities besides gender shape people's experiences and ideas related to sexuality, such as race, class, sexual orientation, disability, age, profession/job, and ethnicity. Other reoccurring themes besides intersectionality and identity include: violence and coercion, regulation and policing, family and romantic relationships, reproduction, creation of communities, politics and activism, medicine and technology, power, information and education.

Biggar (2015) argues that “religion” deserves a place in secular medicine. Against this view, I argue that religion (as most people would understand the term) should not play a role in shaping secular health policy, and I provide some... more

Biggar (2015) argues that “religion” deserves a place in secular medicine. Against this view, I argue that religion (as most people would understand the term) should not play a role in shaping secular health policy, and I provide some illustrations of the dangers of the contrary. However, I also suggest that—upon closer inspection—Biggar seems to be using the term “religion” to refer to obliquely to what most people would call “moral philosophy.” On this less controversial interpretation, Biggar’s proposal is inoffensive—but unoriginal.

In this article I will analyze how international debates on population, sovereignty, and development resonated in Latin America and particularly in Buenos Aires, focusing in the medical community and the media. I will look at some of the... more

In this article I will analyze how international debates on population, sovereignty, and development resonated in Latin America and particularly in Buenos Aires, focusing in the medical community and the media. I will look at some of the debates at the Buenos Aires Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, an association that has gathered the most outstanding specialists since the early twentieth century, becoming an important referent for physicians in the field. I will also look at how two mainstream magazines like Primera Plana and Claudia dealt with the issue of population and birth control.

China-India history of the 1950s remains mired in concerns related to border demarcations and a teleological focus on the causes, course, and consequences of the war of 1962. The result is an overt emphasis on diplomatic and... more

China-India history of the 1950s remains mired in concerns related to border demarcations and a teleological focus on the causes, course, and consequences of the war of 1962. The result is an overt emphasis on diplomatic and international history of a rather narrow form. In critiquing this narrowness, this article offers an alternate chronology accompanied by two substantive case studies. Taken together, they demonstrate that an approach that takes seriously cultural, scientific, and economic life leads to different sources and different historical arguments than an approach focused on political (and especially high political) life. Such a shift in emphasis, away from conflict and onto moments of contact, comparison, cooperation, and competition, can contribute fresh perspectives not just on the histories of China and India, but also on the histories of the Global South.

In 1969, E. W. Monter postulated that both Jean Bodin’s treatises on money, the Response to Malestroit (1568), and on witchcraft, the Démonomanie (1580), were models of rationality. Yet he failed to detect the rationale behind the latter.... more

In 1969, E. W. Monter postulated that both Jean Bodin’s treatises on money, the Response to Malestroit (1568), and on witchcraft, the Démonomanie (1580), were models of rationality. Yet he failed to detect the rationale behind the latter. Its core can be deciphered by analyzing three historical enigmas of late 15th century Europe: (i) the transformation of the Population Catastrophe of 1348-1352 and its aftermath into a demographic explosion, (ii) the Great Witch Hunt, and (iii) the sudden disappearance of birth control. They can be solved by a political-economic explanation: The Great Witch Hunt was initiated as the most cruel and terrible measure to eliminate birth control to repopulate Europe. Bodin was still aware of this catastrophe and declared birth control as witchcraft which he carefully distinguished from traditional magic. Like the Malleus Maleficarum (1487), Bodin blamed the midwives, the experts of birth control, as witches. Population policy, executed as extermination of birth control, defined ”political economy”, a concept elaborated by him. Like combating the danger of inflation by controlling coinage out of the influx of gold and silver from the Americas, the state should prevent the danger of an under-supply of working people by forcing its citizens to boost their number of children.

In the early People's Republic of China (PRC), Communist officials initially placed strict constraints on birth control use, encouraging high fertility rates. However, in an effort to enhance agricultural and industrial productivity, such... more

In the early People's Republic of China (PRC), Communist officials initially placed strict constraints on birth control use, encouraging high fertility rates. However, in an effort to enhance agricultural and industrial productivity, such restrictions were gradually repealed and by the 1970s, aggressive promotion of family planning had become the norm. Drawing on both archival and oral history, this article considers the lived experience of birth control use from the founding of the People's Republic until 1958, a period that is often overlooked in studies of reproduction and contraception in modern China, but that had important implications for later trends. Despite claims that discussion of sexuality was suppressed in the PRC and an early ban on certain publications related to sexual hygiene, a considerable amount of literature on sex and birth control was published in major cities in the 1950s. Narratives on sex and birth control in women's magazines and sex handbooks, however, varied widely and access to birth control and surgeries, such as abortions and sterilizations, differed dramatically according to location, class, and education level. This essay probes the circumstances under which women or couples practiced birth control while demonstrating the diversity of contraceptive discourses and practices in the early People's Republic. Though underexplored, the early years of the PRC remain critical to histories of reproduction in China because many of the gender dynamics, socioeconomic pressures, and cultural preferences that informed contraceptive practices in the 1950s continued to do so for decades to come.

Scientific and medical contraceptive standards are commonly believed to have begun with the advent of the oral contraceptive pill in the late 1950s. This article explains that in Britain contraceptive standards were imagined and... more

Scientific and medical contraceptive standards are commonly believed to have begun with the advent of the oral contraceptive pill in the late 1950s. This article explains that in Britain contraceptive standards were imagined and implemented at least two decades earlier by the Family Planning Association, which sought to legitimize contraceptive methods, practice and provision through the foundation of the field of contraceptive science. This article charts the origins of the field, investigating the three methods the association devised and employed to achieve its goal of effecting contraceptive regulation. This was through the development of standardized methods to assess spermicidal efficacy; the establishment of quality, strength and manufacturing standards for rubber prophylactics; and the institution of animal trials to ensure the safety of specific contraceptives. The association publicized the results of its scientific testing on proprietary contraceptives in its annual Approved List of contraceptives. This provided doctors and chemists with a definitive register of safe and effective methods to prescribe.

In less than one generation, a unique demographic transition has taken place in Iran. A population growth rate of 4.06% in 1984 fell to 1.15% in 1993 and a total fertility rate of 6.4 births per woman in 1984 declined to 1.9 in 2010. In... more

In less than one generation, a unique demographic transition has taken place in Iran. A population growth rate of 4.06% in 1984 fell to 1.15% in 1993 and a total fertility rate of 6.4 births per woman in 1984 declined to 1.9 in 2010. In 2012, Iranian policymakers shifted away from a birth control policy towards a pro-natalist policy. At first glance, this may seem reasonable since its goal is to avoid the consequences of an aging population. However, we argue that the policy package raises serious public health, socioeconomic, environmental and ethical concerns and is likely to fail on its own terms.