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Fertility Control

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics

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Abstract

The entry opens with an overview of the history and characteristics of modern fertility control methods and comparative information on their effectiveness in preventing unwanted pregnancies. A discussion of their geographic prevalence in a global perspective follows, including information on barriers to access to contraception, particularly for vulnerable groups. The ethical aspects of the fertility control debate are discussed, with an analysis of the natural law theory as interpreted by opponents of contraception, and the three main pro-contraception moral arguments: self-determination, women’s health, and children’s rights.

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References

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Further Readings

  • De Beauvoir, S. (1949). Le Deuxième Sexe. Paris: Gallimard. English edition: De Beauvoir, S. (2011) The Second Sex. New York/Toronto: Vintage.

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  • Jütte, R. (2008). Contraception: A History. Cambridge, UK/Malden: Polity.

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  • Russell, B. (1929). Marriage and Morals. London: George Allen and Unwin.

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  • Vlassoff, C. (2013). Women and contraception. In N. P. Stromquist (Ed.), Women in the Third World: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues (pp. 185–193). New York/Oxford: Routledge.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    Sofia Moratti

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  1. Sofia Moratti
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Correspondence to Sofia Moratti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Duquesne University Center for Healthcare Ethics, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Henk ten Have

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Moratti, S. (2015). Fertility Control. In: ten Have, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_193-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_193-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-05544-2

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