Essays examining birth control, abortion, family planning, and population control in a public policy context from the nineteenth century to the present.

While there is extensive literature on the social history, politics, and legal aspects of birth control and abortion in the United States, the history of family planning as a policy remains to be fully recorded. This volume is intended to contribute to this history by examining birth control and abortion within a larger cultural, policy, and comparative framework. The essays contained in this volume represent a variety of perspectives and scholarly interests. In many instances the authors differ with each other as well as with the editor on fundamental points of historical interpretation. They all, however, share a commitment to study the politics of population within a scholarly framework that emphasizes the importance of policy history for understanding past and contemporary problems.

Contents

Birth Control, Population Control, and Family Planning: An Overview Donald T. Critchlow

The Birth-Control Movement Before Roe v. Wade James W. Reed

"Sound Law and Undoubtedly Good Policy": Roe v. Wade in Comparative Perspective Ian Mylchreest

World Population Growth, Family Planning, and American Foreign Policy John Sharpless

Cultural Politics at the Edge of Life James Davison Hunter and Joseph E. Davis

The Right to Life Movement: Sources, Development, and Strategies Keith Cassidy

The Survival of the Pro-Choice Movement Suzanne Staggenborg

Selected Bibliography Donald T. Critchlow and Christina Sanders