BIRTH CONTROL

the voluntary limiting of human reproduction, using such means as contraception, sexual abstinence, surgical sterilization, and induced abortion. The term was coined in 191415 by the American feminist Margaret Sanger. Contraception is used by couples both to limit the total number of offspring and to lengthen the interval between pregnancies. Medically, birth control is often advised in cases in which childbirth might endanger the physical or mental health of the prospective mother or in which a substantial risk exists of bearing a severely disabled child. Socially and economically, limitation of reproduction is frequently motivated by the desire to maintain or improve family living standards. Though these reasons for curbing family size might appear to be distinctly modern, most of them were operative thousands of years ago. Most religious leaders now generally agree that some form of fertility regulation is desirable, though the means is strongly debated. Beyond these essentially personal and ethical reasons for birth control, there has arisen in recent decades a growing social motivationthe so-called population explosion. After World War II, the dramatic lowering of death rates through the advances of medical science resulted in the doubling of the growth rate of the world's population in about 15 years. The most rapid population increases have occurred mainly in the countries with the lowest per capita economic production and the least ability to keep up with population growth. India, to cite one example, struggles to raise the general standard of living, while at the same time daily providing for at least 35,000 new citizens. Over history, there has been a general tendency in the curbing of family size to shift from deliberate action after birth (infanticide) to action before birth (abortion) or before conception (contraception). This shift has occurred in different parts of the world at different times and is far from complete. While infanticide is on the wane, as late as the 18th century in European countries unwanted infants were disposed of by abandonment and exposure, a practice that prompted the establishment of the Foundling Hospital of London. Infanticide persists in semidisguised form as traditional practice among some primitive peoples and in more remote areas. Induced abortion, however, may still be the world's most widely practiced means of birth control. Japan provides a dramatic example of the shift. In its feudal past, infanticide was common. Abortion was legalized in 1948 and quickly emerged as the primary means of fertility control. In the 1960s, the Japanese in growing numbers began to employ contraception in preference to abortion. In Europe and North America, the 20th century has seen legal proscription against birth control give way to laws permitting contraception. In most Western nations, induced abortion has been legalized by either legislation or the interpretation of the courts, but there are almost universal restrictions. Much of the liberalization has been encouraged by the women's liberation movement. Elsewhere, contraception and abortion are sanctioned in many former Soviet-bloc nations, and family planning has been adopted as government policy in many of the developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This is especially true in China, where the one-child family is officially advocated. For types of contraception, see contraception. the voluntary limiting of human reproduction, using such means as sexual abstinence, contraception, induced abortion, and surgical sterilization. It includes the spacing as well as the number of children in a family. Birth control encompasses the wide range of rational and irrational methods that have been used in the attempt to regulate fertility, as well as the response of individuals and of groups within society to the choices offered by such methods. It has been and remains controversial. The U.S. reformer Margaret Sanger coined the phrase in 191415 and, like the social movement she founded, the term has been caught up in a quest for acceptance, generating many synonyms: family planning, planned parenthood, responsible parenthood, voluntary parenthood, contraception, fertility regulation, and fertility control. Human reproduction involves a range of activities and events, from sexual intercourse through birth, and depends as well on a series of physiological interactions, such as the timing of ovulation within the menstrual cycle. The visible events are central to the transmission of life and have been subject to social and religious control. The invisible factors in human reproduction gave rise early on to speculation and in modern times have become the topic of scientific investigation and manipulation. New knowledge relevant to birth control has diffused at different rates through various social groups and has not always been available to those with the greatest need. Hence, the conflicts and controversies surrounding birth control have been complex and impassioned. The disagreement over birth control arises in part from the debate over what is natural and what is artificial (and, to some, unacceptable). For information on human reproduction in general see reproductive system, human, and pregnancy. Additional reading Historical writings Thomas Malthus, An Essay on Principles of Population (1798, reprinted 1958), the classic work that prompted the social crusade; Marie Stopes, Early Days of Birth Control (1923); Margaret Sanger, My Fight for Birth Control (1932); Madeline Gray, Margaret Sanger (1979); K. Briant, Marie Stopes: A Biography (1962); and P. Fryer, The Birth-Controllers (1965). S. Chandrasekhar, "A Dirty, Filthy Book" (1981), is a popular overview of the early birth control movement in England. Methods Norman E. Himes, Medical History of Contraception (1936, reissued 1970), a standard reference source; Malcolm Potts and Peter Diggory, Textbook of Contraceptive Practice, 2nd rev. ed. (1983), a medical textbook containing short expositions of social, legal, and religious considerations. Abortion is treated in James Tunstead Burtchaell, Rachel Weeping and Other Essays on Abortion (1982), an argument against legal abortion; Fred M. Frohock, Abortion: A Case Study in Law and Morals (1983), a reference work containing philosophical and factual coverage; and Malcolm Potts, Peter Diggory, and John Peel, Abortion (1977), a global review of legal and illegal abortion. Birth control methods are discussed in particular in Family Planning Perspectives, a bimonthly journal published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute. See Roger Short, Breast Feeding, Scientific American, vol. 250, no. 4, pp. 3541 (April 1984), a review of the effect of lactation on fertility. Family planning John C. Caldwell, Theory of Fertility Decline (1982), a review of the motivation for and against family planning in a traditional society; P.k. Whelpton et al., Fertility and Family Planning in the U.S. (1966); B. Berelson (comp.), Family Planning Programs: An International Survey (1969); and S.j. Behrman et al. (eds.), Fertility and Family Planning: A World View (1969). See also Independent Commission On International Development Issues, Common Crisis North-South: Cooperation for World Recovery (1983); Council On Environmental Quality (U.S.), The Global 2000 Report to the President: Entering the Twenty-First Century, 3 vol. (198081); Abdel R. Omran, The Health Theme in Family Planning (1971); and World Development Report, an annual publication. A great range of continuing discussions and research reports on many aspects of family planning methods may be found in Studies in Family Planning, a quarterly of the Population Council of New York. Religious beliefs M.A.C. Warren et al., The Family in Contemporary Society (1958), the Anglican viewpoint; R.M. Fagley, The Population Explosion and Christian Responsibility (1960), a review of the position of the major religions by a Protestant clergyman; John T. Noonan, Contraception: A History of Its Treatment by the Catholic Theologians and Canonists (1965), the major history of Roman Catholic doctrine; P. Harris et al., On Human Life (1968), an examination of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae; Francis X. Murphy and Joseph F. Erhart, Catholic Perspectives on Population Issues (1975); and International Islamic Conference, Islam and Family Planning, 2 vol. (1974), proceedings of the conference of 1971. Social factors E.A. Wrigley, Population and History (1969); and Helen B. Holmes, Birth Control and Controlling Birth: Women-Centered Perspectives (1980). Malcolm Potts Methods of birth control Nonmedical methods Abstinence Abstinence is important in many societies. In the West, most individuals abstain from regular sexual intercourse for many years between puberty and marriage. Raising the age of marriage has been an important element in the decline of the birth rate in China, Korea, and Sri Lanka. Abstinence among couples with grown children is important in some traditional societies, such as certain Hindu groups. Breast-feeding The role of breast-feeding in the regulation of human fertility can be illustrated by the following calculation: in Pakistan breast-feeding is virtually universal, and many women breast-feed for two years or more. Fewer than one in 10 women use a modern method of contraception; but if breast-feeding were to decline to levels now found in Central America, four out of 10 women would have to use an artificial method of birth control just to prevent the fertility rate from rising. Although the information is important to demography, there is no simple way to predict when an individual breast-feeding woman will become fertile again. If she seeks security against pregnancy, a woman may in fact have an overlap of several months between the time she adopts an artificial method and the end of her natural protection.