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9 Clev.-Marshall L. Rev. 245 (1960)
Birth Control Legislation

handle is hein.journals/clevslr9 and id is 253 raw text is: Birth Control Legislation Jack H. Hudson* O NE OF THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECTS of the day is the so-called population explosion. Because of the moral, polit- ical, and economic connotations of the subject, almost every person is aware of the problem and its social significance. Reli- gious denominations have expressed or reaffirmed their policy on birth control,1 presidential candidates have been questioned as to their views on the dissemination of birth control information and devices,2 and sociologists have expressed the opinion that raising of living standards will be virtually impossible if the world's population continues to grow at the present rate.' What- ever the solutions proposed, and they differ greatly, there is com- plete agreement that a difficult, perhaps even dangerous, prob- lem exists; for every twenty-four hours the population of the world increases by 150,000.4 Ironically enough, medical science is primarily responsible for this huge increase; the same science that accepts contracep- tion as proper medical practice. Control of infectious diseases in backward countries by the use of sulfa drugs, antibiotics, and insecticides has cut death rates to approximately 10 per 1,000 population per year, while most of these same underdeveloped countries have birth rates of more than 40 per thousand per year.5 Historical Background In view of all the controversy generated by the current birth control issue, it is interesting to review the history of the birth control movement and the present status of the laws governing the distribution and use of contraceptives in the United States. The birth control movement had its beginnings in the writings of T. R. Malthus, a British minister and economist, whose princi- pal thesis was: The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man. Malthus calculated that unchecked human population tended to double every twenty-five years in a geometric ratio, while * B.S. in Pharmacy, Univ. of Pittsburgh; Registered pharmacist in Pennsyl- vania and Ohio; Third-year student at Cleveland-Marshall Law School. 1 U. S. News and World Report, September 5, 1958. 2 Newsweek, December 7, 1959. 3 Hauser, speech before The American Association for Advancement of Science, December 27, 1959. 4 Newsweek, December 14, 1959. 5 Notestein, Poverty and Population, Atlantic Monthly, November, 1959.

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