ABSTRACT
Some religions, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, teach that only 'natural' family planning is allowed for their flock and there are social groups who adhere to the same belief. Apart from acting as family planning contraceptives, it was proven that the condom was effective against the spread of sexually transmitted disease, the original reason for the invention of the device. The evolution of birth control in the early part of the century was heavily influenced in America by Margaret Higgins Sanger, of an Irish immigrant family. From the 1950s onwards she played an important supportive role in the development of the oral contraceptive pill. At the same time in England the campaigner for birth control was Marie Carmichael Stopes. Stopes book on birth control is a fascinating read and the extracts in this chapter highlight the radical changes in attitudes to contraception that occurred worldwide in the past three-quarters of a century.
