Contraception: News of the Pill

"Reproduction," said Demographer Lincoln Day at a Yale University symposium for gynecologists, "is a private act, but it is not a private affair. It has far-reaching social consequences. No longer can we defend excessive reproduction by saying 'Well, they can afford it.' The question now is whether society can afford it." Not so, argued a gynecologist after listening to Day's talk. "How many children a couple want to have is their own business, and the point of birth control is just to ensure that freedom of choice."

The open debate, covered matter-of-factly by the press, was further proof of the worldwide...