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Definition: birth control from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide

The use of contraceptives prevent pregnancy. It is part of the general practice of family planning.


Birth Control

From Encyclopedia of Motherhood
Birth control encompasses a variety of methods designed to prevent pregnancy. Historical records dating back to 1550 b.c.e detail attempts to control fertility, which suggests that preventing conception and controlling population has been a prevalent and continuing issue facing individuals and societies for thousands of years. However, birth control has been the subject of controversy both in ancient and in modern times. Religious leaders in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths have debated the morality of contraception. Additionally, the focus on population control in the latter part of the 20th century expands the morally and ethically charged birth control debate. Issues regarding involuntary sterilizations and state-controlled reproduction, such as China's one-child policy that began in 1979, continue to be matters of public concern. A variety of methods are currently employed to prevent conception. These methods range from the natural to the pharmaceutical; each method varies in…
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Full text Article Birth Control

From Encyclopedia of Women's Health
Contraception is defined as the use of medications, devices, surgery, or sexual timing or practices to voluntarily avoid unintended pregnancy and to space childbirth. Birth control, family planning, fertility control, pregnancy prevention, and planned parenthood are other terms used for…
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Full text Article Birth Control

From New Harvard Guide to Women's Health, The
Birth Control
In the best possible world, there would be a method of birth control that is not only safe and effective but also easily obtainable, convenient, unobtrusive, reversible, and affordable. Despite years of effort, no such ideal contraceptive has as yet been devised. A wide variety of methods are…
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Full text Article Birth Control

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
Margaret Higgins Sanger, the American birth...
Americans, like people in most cultures throughout history, have sought to control reproduction. From the colonial era to the twenty-first century, single men and women, and married couples, for diverse reasons and using diverse methods, have tried to prevent pregnancies and births. The number of…
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Full text Article Birth Control

From Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
For most of human history, women of childbearing age had no reliable way of preventing conception when engaging in sexual intercourse. In addition, there was a strong feeling among authorities that information and devices intended to prevent conception were subversive and not to be discussed…
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Full text Article birth control

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
practice of contraception for the purpose of limiting reproduction. Male birth control methods include withdrawal of the male before ejaculation (the oldest contraceptive technique) and use of the condom, a rubber sheath covering the penis. The condom, because of its use as a protection against…
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Full text Article BIRTH CONTROL

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
English novelist …accidents will occur in the best-regulated families… David Copperfield (Volume 1 ) (p. 454 ) P.F. Collier & Son Company. New York New York USA . 1917. No biographical data available Birth control: Banned parenthood. …
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Full text Article BIRTH CONTROL

From The Reader's Companion to American History
“Birth control” was an early-twentieth-century slogan, but it has become the generic for all forms of control of reproduction. In popular usage it refers particularly to contraception, but in fact its historical practice cannot be separated from that of abortion. Attempts to control reproduction…
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Full text Article Birth Control

From AllSides Red Blue Dictionary
Depending on one's vantage point, birth control represents an important galvanizing issue around women's rights - or a galvanizing issue around religious freedom. Progressives typically prefer other words like contraception, since birth control includes abortion (while contraception does not). The…
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Full text Article Birth Control

From Encyclopedia of Adolescence
The period of adolescence may be initiated by the ability to beget children, but the major response to that ability is efforts to control the potential births that may arise from it. Birth control involves the effort to determine when pregnancy occurs, and it can involve a variety of methods. Yet, …
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Full text Article BIRTH CONTROL

From International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family
CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS Contraception has been used worldwide since ancient times. Writings in Egyptian papyri, the Bible, and Greek and Roman texts indicate the usage of various herb and root preparations for contraception and abortion (Riddle 1992). Decisions regarding the timing of pregnancy and…
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