Contraception
A Concise History
Reeks: The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series
Donna J. Drucker
- The
- development,
- manufacturing,
- and
- use
- of
- contraceptive
- methods
- from
- the
- late
- nineteenth
- century
- to
- the
- present,
- viewed
- from
- the
- perspective
- of
- reproductive
- justice.The
- beginning
- of
- the
- modern
- contraceptive
- era
- began
- in
- 1882,
- when
- Dr.
- Aletta
- Jacobs
- opened
- the
- first
- birth
- control
- clinic
- in
- Amsterdam.
- The
- founding
- of
- this
- facility,
- and
- the
- clinical
- provision
- of
- contraception
- that
- it
- enabled,
- marked
- the
- moment
- when
- physicians
- started
- to
- take
- the
- prevention
- of
- pregnancy
- seriously
- as
- a
- medical
- concern.
- In
- this
- volume
- in
- the
- MIT
- Press
- Essential
- Knowledge
- series,
- Donna
- Drucker
- traces
- the
- history
- of
- modern
- contraception,
- outlining
- the
- development,
- manufacturing,
- and
- use
- of
- contraceptive
- methods
- from
- the
- opening
- of
- Dr.
- Jacobs's
- clinic
- to
- the
- present.
- Drucker
- approaches
- the
- subject
- from
- the
- perspective
- of
- reproductive
- justice:
- the
- right
- to
- have
- a
- child,
- the
- right
- not
- to
- have
- a
- child,
- and
- the
- right
- to
- parent
- children
- safely
- and
- healthily.Drucker
- describes
- contraceptive
- methods
- available
- before
- the
- pill,
- including
- the
- diaphragm
- (dispensed
- at
- the
- Jacobs
- clinic)
- and
- condom,
- spermicidal
- jellies,
- and
- periodic
- abstinences.
- She
- looks
- at
- the
- development
- and
- dissemination
- of
- the
- pill
- and
- its
- chemical
- descendants;
- describes
- technological
- developments
- in
- such
- non-hormonal
- contraceptives
- as
- the
- cervical
- cap
- and
- timing
- methods
- (including
- the
- “rhythm
- method”
- favored
- by
- the
- Roman
- Catholic
- church);
- and
- explains
- the
- concept
- of
- reproductive
- justice.
- Finally,
- Drucker
- considers
- the
- future
- of
- contraception—the
- adaptations
- of
- existing
- methods,
- new
- forms
- of
- distribution,
- and
- ongoing
- efforts
- needed
- to
- support
- contraceptive
- access worldwide.
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